AMUSED, ALERT: Sir V.S. Naipaul at the book reading on Thursday. Picture by Aranya Sen

A jovial V.S. Naipaul surprised a packed house at the Oxford Bookstore on Thursday. Promoting his latest ? and allegedly last ? novel Magic Seeds, the Nobel laureate seemed in a mood to humour his riveted audience.

After an introduction by author Amit Chaudhuri and an animated reading of an excerpt from the novel by actor Victor Banerjee, the 72-year-old writer addressed a number of questions, smiling yet uncompromising, amused yet alert.

This was never as clear as when he was asked about his impression of the city. ?I came to Calcutta first at the end of my Indian year, ?62? This time, my visit was more superficial. I just see the civic neglect. But I shouldn?t speak. I don?t know the city, don?t know the problems,? said Sir Vidia.

Then, with a smile that lit up an ageing face and a handful more in the audience: ?Possibly people like civic neglect, otherwise (with a throaty laugh) it wouldn?t exist.?

As expected, there was not a dull moment during the half-an-hour chat. The ailing Naipaul, under the close watch of wife Nadira and with the support of a belt for a weak back that has been plaguing him for over a year, couldn?t resist a dig at literary prizes.

When asked about the future direction of the novel, he didn?t miss a beat.

?Oh, novels now will be about lesbianism. This year, the Booker took a lick at homosexuality. Next year, maybe, it will be about Siamese twins. That hasn?t been explored yet!?

This, after observing that novels are no longer about ?humanity?, merely ?oddities?.

Attempts by at least one member of the audience to rile the England-based writer, making a final stop on a lengthy stay in India, failed.

?Are all Muslim nations terrorist?? was the question. ?I wouldn?t answer that. It is tenacious and provocative,? was the terse answer.

But then, Naipaul himself had handpicked the questions from a bunch submitted by viewers before the interaction began. Perhaps this one had crept in unawares.

He managed to touch a number of sensitive subjects. After controversially going on record criticising Mahatma Gandhi, Naipaul chose to compare their writing styles.

When Chaudhuri asked him about the ?spare and unsparing? nature of Magic Seeds, he responded by saying that the ?surface is smooth. You can glide over it. People are so used to reading to get to the next narrative turn that they don?t pay attention to what they are actually reading?.

At that point, he singled out ?an Indian writer? who wrote with such speed and vision ? Mahatma Gandhi.

Again, Naipaul was quick to dismiss that he has a lofty ?role? as writer. ?I have no role. I like to present a good book? In the 50s and 60s, writers had to be committed. Yes, that is the word that was used. That meant being communist, being on the side of Russia and against capitalism.?

Once again, when confronted with a question about western imperial rule, he clarified his position. ?It was the happiest and luckiest thing to befall India,? he said.

And though ?it didn?t appear so at the time?, Naipaul stressed, it resulted in an ?utterly creative? phase for a nation, bringing law and education to the country.

At 72, after a life?s work, Sir Vidia need make no excuses.