![Dark and provocative, Taslima Nasrin Dark and provocative, Taslima Nasrin](http://www.saharasamay.com/pics/article/2016_11_16_17_45_32_tasleema 4.jpg)
Nasrin, during her "better days in Kolkata", could simply walk out in plain clothes, "just a pair of flimsy slippers" on her feet, and shop off the pavement, buying things at a bargain. She could pick up a "stray kitten from Gariaghat" and bring it home with her. Nasrin regularly attended shows at theatres like Girish Mancha.It was a simple, unadorned life that would suddenly transform into a glamorous one – "the crowds would spill over outside the stall at the (Kolkata) book fair and the police would have to be deployed to manage the admirers".