Salman Rushdie–Wandering between Two Worlds

Rushdie–The Courter

I became a British citizen that year. And the passport did, in many ways, set me free. It allowed me to come and go, to make choices. But I too have ropes around my neck, I have them to this day, pulling me this way and that, East and West, the nooses tightening, commanding, choose, choose.

I buck, I snort, I whinny, I rear, I kick. Ropes, I do not choose between you. Lassoes, lariats, I choose neither of you, and both. Do you hear? I refuse to choose.