Provoking people is in my DNA: Salman Rushdie

London, Dec 30: Salman Rushdie, the controversial writes who was once condemned to death by a former Iranian spiritual leader, has said that provoking people 'is in his DNA'. The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie's fourth novel was center of protests from Muslims all over the world. So protests were so violent and he even faced death threats and a fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran.

Khomeini said that Rushdie potrayed the Prophet Mohammed in irreverent terms and so he had forfeited the right to life. As a result of this death threat Rushdie spent nearly a decade in exile and appearing in public only sporadically. Now, while in his interview with The Telegraph, 'The Enchantress of Florence' author says he 'can't avoid making enemies.'

When asked why he provokes such dramatic reactions, Rushdie says he can't avoid it, as if it's somehow stamped on his DNA.

"There's a quote by Robert Browning that I'm particularly fond of - "Our interest's on the dangerous edge of things." Something in me, not consciously willed, takes me to those
edges. But, at the same time, part of the nature of the artist, at least as I see it, is to increase - by however little - the sum total of what it is possible for us to understand. Nothing of great interest for me is done sitting safely in the middle of the room. You want to push the boundaries as much as possible. But I suppose if you do that then people are going to push back," he said.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)