New Delhi: Delhi-based writer Geetanjali Shree is “amazed” and “humbled” by the International Booker Prize awarded to her novel, Tomb of Sand, earlier this week. The win is a milestone in Indian literature since it’s the first International Booker award for a Hindi and Indian language work — Tomb of Sand was originally written as Ret Samadhi in Hindi and translated into English by Daisy Rockwell.
“This is totally unexpected for me. I had never dreamt of a getting Booker and never even thought I could win this coveted prize,” said Shree in a statement after receiving the prize. She added: “This is recognition at a very high level, which I am quite amazed to have received. I feel happy, honored and humbled.”
Referring to the recognition the award brings to writing in Indian languages, Shree said, “I represent a language and a culture and this recognition covers the whole world of Hindi literature in particular and Indian literature in general. It also draws attention to the fact that there is a vast world of literature that is yet to be discovered.’
The International Booker Prize is awarded to literary works published in English (original or translated) either the UK or in Ireland.
While Shree’s original work was published by India’s Rajkamal Prakashan, the translation was published by UK-based Tilted Axis Press.
“This (the Booker prize won by Shree) not only makes the world bigger for the awarded book or author, but everyone starts looking at more books, and authors of the original language. This is a big opportunity, when global showcasing of Hindi books can be done with some vigour,” said Satyanand Nirupam, editor of Rajkamal Prakashan.
Meanwhile, accolades have been flowing in for Shree.
Hindi writer Krishna Sobti, to whom Ret Samadhi is dedicated, said the symbolism of the title and the book’s spiritual language are benefitted from each other, while author and JNU professor Purushottam Agarwal said the novel enriches our senses.
“Geetanjali has demolished the common notions of reality and has created a unique reality, it is quite similar to the reality around us and it even transcends its limits,” said veteran poet Ashok Bajpai, while talking of the award-winning work.
Writers of Hindi literature are hopeful that the award won by Shree will mark the “real dawn” for writings in the language.
“Hindi has had its noon, evening and night, but the real morning of Hindi has arrived today,” said Prabhat Ranjan, a writer-translator and professor at Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain College.
“Hindi writers may get some recognition from popular writings, but greater international recognition would come from serious literature only. The International Booker Prize is the most recent example,” he said.
The award is also being touted as a big achievement for women’s writing and translations.
‘In my opinion women’s writing will be the major voice of this century. Because they (women writers) have a yet-unexplored view of reality and the depth of their empathy, ideological sharpness, courage is reflected in their works,” said Nirupam.
‘A sad satisfaction’
Shree has said that her writing has been inspired by that of many authors including Nirmal Verma, Intezar Hussain, Srilal Shukla and Vinod Kumar Shukla. The writings of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Earnest Hemingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez have also left their mark on her. The Mahabharata, she has said, has transformed her life because it has all kind of stories that can be narrated in all kinds of ways.
“Ever since this book was included in the Booker’s long list, a lot has been written about Hindi for the first time. I liked that I could become the medium for all this, but at the same time I want to emphasize that behind me and behind this book there is a very rich literary tradition of Hindi and other South Asian languages,” said Shree after winning the award.
She added: “Global literature will get more enriched by getting acquainted with some of the best writers of these languages. Such introductions will add to the vocabulary of life itself.”
She also spoke of how the recognition would help the novel reach many more people, who otherwise would have missed it. ‘There is a sad satisfaction in being rewarded. The Ret Samadhi is a tribute to the world in which we live. A fiery hymn that keeps raising hope in the face of impending doom,” she said.
The novel is about an 80-year-old old grandmother who does not want to get out of bed and when she finally does, finds a new childhood, a new youth that is free from all kind of restrictions and social taboos. There are new relationships and new attitudes that come with complete freedom.
Frank Wynne, who was on the award’s jury, has said, ‘It is a dazzling novel about India and its Partition, but whose mesmerising and fierce compassion weaves youth and age, man and woman, family and nation into a kaleidoscope.”
The art of translation
Born on 12 June, 1957, in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri, Shree’s early education happened at schools across the state, as her civil servant father was transferred from one city to another. She graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and completed her masters in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Ret Samadhi is her first book to have been published in UK (in translation). Her earlier works include Mai, Hamara Shahr Us Baras (set in the time of Babri Masjid demolition), Tirohit, Khali Jagah, and four short story collections.
She has also written several English works, including the research treatise, Between Two Worlds: An Intellectual Biography of Premchand.
Her works have been translated into many languages, including European languages.
Talking of Ret Samadhi, its translator Daisy Rockwell had said at an event in Delhi last month, “Ret Samadhi is a complex and rich novel and even after reading it time and again its wonder and thrill keep deepening. I can say this without any doubt because I myself have read it again and again while translating it. It takes time to comprehend it on the whole, because our tiny jalebi-like brains cannot process this task all alone.”
According to Ranjan, Arunava Sinha, a Bengali and English writer, had introduced Rockwell to the publisher of the English translation.
Pointing out that Ret Samadhi is not an easy book to translate, because of the difficulty in capturing the Hindi verse and rhythm in English, Anamika, professor of English at Delhi University and Sahitya Akademi award winner, said that though the narration has got shortened in the English translation, still there seems to be some sort of sisterhood between the translator and the original writer.
‘This is a big moment for translation and women’s writing. Now people from other countries are learning new languages and exchanging them in their own language,” she added.
Wondering why translation is not treated as creative work in India, Ranjan hoped that the award for the translated Ret Samadhi will create an interest in the field of translation.
Comparing Shree’s original work and the translated Tomb of Sand, he added: “Silence and pauses between sentences have a special significance in her writing. In the Hindi version of the book it has clearly come to fore, but the translator has not been able to grasp that. Still, she had made the pauses even more vocal.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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