New York: When Rushdie, Padma and Suketu Mehta graced the dance floor

‘I Hoped To Benefit From Rushdie’s Presence At The Club,’ reminisces Amitabha Bagchi, 39, author of two bestselling novels. His third book, This Place, was published by HarperCollins.

Suketu Mehta was the first famous Indian writerI saw after moving to New York. I was at a monthly South Asian party called Basement Bhangra when I noticed a man dressed older than everyone else walk in. “Aren’t you reading that guy’s book,” my friend asked. I squinted and indeed, it was Mehta, yet to achieve the fame that would accrue as his book went out into the world. In the hope that if I congratulated him I would bank some karma with the cosmos that would subsequently be returned when my novel was published, I went up to him. After thanking me, he took me around the corner into the VIP area and said: “Meet Salman Rushdie.”