The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Excerpt

You seem worried. Do not be; this burly fellow is merely our waiter, and there is no need to reach under your jacket, I assume to grasp your wallet, as we will pay him later, when we are done. Would you prefer regular tea, with milk and sugar, or green tea, or perhaps their more fragrant specialty, Kashmiri tea? Excellent choice. I will have the same, and perhaps a plate of jalebis as well. There. He has gone. I must admit, he is a rather intimidating chap. But irreproachably polite: you would have been surprised by the sweetness of his speech, if only you understood Urdu.

Where were we? Ah yes, Underwood Samson. On the day of my interview, I was uncharacteristically nervous. They had sent a single interviewer, and he received us in a room at the Nassau Inn, an ordinary room, mind you, not a suite; they knew we were sufficiently impressed already. When my turn came, I entered and found a man physically not unlike yourself; he, too, had the look of a seasoned army officer. "Changez?" he said, and I nodded, for that is indeed my name. "Come on in and take a seat."

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Copyright © 2007 Mohsin Hamid from the book The Reluctant Fundamentalist Published by Harcourt Inc.; April 2007;$22.00US; 978-0-15-101304-3

Mohsin Hamid is the author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Moth Smoke. His writing has also appeared in Time, the New York Times, and other publications. He lives in London. Visit www.mohsinhamid.com and www.reluctantfundamentalist.com.