The art of distraction

In 2012, the British writer, Hanif Kureishi, wrote about the ‘Art of Distraction’ in 'The New York Times'. Hanif, who is of Asian heritage and named after the famous Pakistani cricketer Hanif Mohammad, would have never thought that many years later, lying in a Rome hospital, he would be using the same method to distract himself from his serious medical condition. On December 26, 2022, while walking in Rome, he collapsed, lying in a pool of blood and was taken to a hospital by three anonymous policemen.

The fall 'grotesquely twisted' his neck, which left him partially paralysed. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter, whose famous works include 'My Beautiful Laundrette' and 'The Buddha of Suburbia', today finds himself in the condition of sculptor Ken Harrison (played by Richard Dreyfuss) in 'Whose Life Is It Anyway', as he can no longer hold the pen in his fingers, walk or feed himself. He says he was struggling to come to terms with the fact “I can’t walk up the front path of my house, open the door, and step back into my old life – lie down on my sofa, with a glass of wine and the Premier League. It seems unbelievably cruel that I cannot do such a simple thing."

However, unlike Ken Harrison, Hanif has not given up hope. Although the doctors have assured him of recovery, it will be long and arduously slow. In his first international broadcast interview, he told the World Service's Newshour how his life has changed.

"I saw Death; Death was chattering to me," he told me, convinced he was going to die, and said he wanted to video-call his children to say goodbye, but was persuaded against it by his girlfriend, Isabella D'Amico. Now Hanif is using the 'art of distraction' and learning to live with his transformed circumstances. Doctors say the 'art of distraction' is a way of helping children and young people cope with a potentially painful or difficult procedure. Hanif has found Twitter as the best way to distract his mind from his miserable medical condition. Unlike Ken Harrison, Hanif is a wordsmith and doesn't need a chisel and a hammer. He may not put pen to paper, but he is dictating thoughts to his son. Known for his acerbic wit, Hanif's Twitter threads have vowed his followers, through which he describes his daily routine of physiotherapy, and his daily encounters with male and female nurses who administer the enema, and change his catheter every four hours. Seeing the popularity of his Tweet threads, Hanif has started 'The Kureishi Chronicles' on Substack to directly 'converse' with his audience. In one of his dispatches, Hanif nostalgically talks about how his father, who named him after the famous Pakistani cricketer wanted him to be the first Pakistani to play for England. However, he was scared of the cricket ball. "I hate cricket now, and can barely stand to watch it." Incidentally, he has named one of his sons Sachin. One doesn't know whether, like his father, Hanif has named him after the famous Sachin Tendulkar.

Hanif says he was born in an almost Dickensian period where children were never praised or encouraged by their parents. However, he is happy that he has been receiving much kind praise for his blog, and many sweet emails and texts from people saying how much it means to them. "I am grateful for the encouragement; I need the appreciation, and it certainly cheers me up."

Let's pray and hope that one day Hanif will walk out of the hospital with a pen in his hand.

The writer has worked in senior editorial positions for many renowned international publications. Views expressed are personal