Geetanjali Shree: The New 'Booker' Star in Modern World Literature
| IOP Desk - 30 May 2022

Geetanjali Shree:

A Novelist emerged on the Modern World Literature Sphere

 

By Pankaj Shingrakhiya

New Delhi, May 30th, 2022

 

Geetanjali Shree’s novel ‘रेत समाधि’ translated as ‘Tomb of Sand’ won India’s first International Booker Prize. “A loud and irresistible novel” tale as called by the judge of the Booker Prize Panel and an acknowledgment of Indian writer on the world surface. It was the first time any Hindi-language book was shortlisted and won at last.

 

Indian Literature in English has played an important role in the history of English literature, particularly after India's independence. From Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's Rajmohan's Wife to the trio of R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, and Mulk Raj Anand, Indians have produced literature that is regarded as classic by readers worldwide. When Rabindranath Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Gitanjali in 1913, people then in the world acknowledged India's contribution to English literature.

Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy, Aravind Adiga, and many others have left their impact on the history of Indian literature in English by winning or being short-listed for the Booker Prize. Anita Desai is a groundbreaking writer who has been nominated for the Booker Prize three times but has never won. After Anita Desai's nomination, Salman Rushdie won the Booker Prize the following year. The Booker Prize was then awarded to authors like Kiran Desai (Anita Desai's daughter), Arundhati Roy, and Aravind Adiga. These authors have made India proud, and India has celebrated and honored them. Apart from the Booker Prize there is the International Booker Prize that has been awarded in 2016, and was formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize, which was announced in June 2004 and is sponsored by the Man Group. No Indian has ever won an International Booker Prize.

The International Booker Prize is given every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available. This is a literary award that can make a regional writer known to the world. Geetanjali Shree: An Indian novelist who writes in Hindi has been in the news in the literary world because of her well-acclaimed Hindi novel titled रेत समाधि published in 2019, which has been shortlisted by judging panel of The International Booker Prize, 2022

 

 “An urgent yet protests against the destructive impact of borders, whether between religions, countries or genders.

 - The International Booker Prize

                                                                                                                                                                         

Geetanjali Shree is a New Delhi-based Indian author who writes in Hindi. She adopted her mother’s first name ‘Shree’ as her last name. She has been writing in Hindi Sahitya since 1987. Furthermore, she is the author of five novels and several collections of short stories.  Her work Mai has been translated into various languages, with Nita Kumar's English translation winning the Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize.

Her latest work रेत समाधि which is translated as ‘Tomb of Sand’ by Daisy Rockwell: U.S based translator has won The International Booker Prize. This is great news for India and Indian writers especially, the writers who write in regional languages of India, that any literary work has the ability to move the readers across the globe.

 

एक कहानी अपने आपको कहेगी, मुकम्मल कहानी होगी और अधुरी भी, जैसा कहानीओ का चलन है। दिलचस्प कहानी है, उसमें सरहद है और औरतें, जो आती है जाती है, आर-पार। औरत और सरहद का साथ हो तो खुदबखुद कहानी बन जाती है, बल्कि औरत भर भी कहानी है
-रेत समाधि

 

The lines above are the first lines of the novel समाधि which suggests the novel premise of the novel. Tomb of Sand is a story of an 80-year-old woman suffers from deep depression after her husband's death and resurfaces to begin a new life in northern India. Her determination to go against her customs confuses her unconventional daughter who is accustomed to thinking of herself as too much "modern". To the disappointment of her family, Ma insists on traveling to Pakistan and dealing with the unresolved trauma of her teenage partition experience. The old lady wants to relive the history and partition. Despite its serious subject, the light touch and abundant wordplay of Geetanjali Shree ensure that the sand tomb is always playful and completely original. Shree has written a protest against the destructive impact of borders. Here, she discusses the importance of a global worldview in literature.

 

"Behind me and this book lies a rich and flourishing literary tradition in Hindi, and in other South Asian languages. World literature will be the richer for knowing some of the finest writers in these languages,"

- She said that in her acceptance speech receiving the award.

 

We at Atmiya University, Rajkot are acknowledging this tremendous effort of this creative writer who has put India and Indian stories on the world surface. We congratulate Geetanjali Shree on winning the prestigious title and making Indian proud. Now there is hope that the stories written by regional Indian writers would go in the world and may change the perception of India in more positive ways and the world would take a turn to read Indian Literature in regional languages also.

 

The writer Mr. Pankaj Shingrakhiya is an Assistant Professor, in the Department of English at the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, Atmiya University, Rajkot. 

 

 

1- Image Courtesy- naiduniya; 2-Image Courtesy- Dawn; 3-Image Courtesy- current affairs Adda 247


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