Meet Geetanjali Shree, 1st Indian To Win Booker Prize For A Hindi Novel

On May 26, 2022, Geetanjali Shree got her name written down in the history books for becoming the first-ever Indian to win the International Booker Prize for her Hindi novel, 'Tomb of Sand.' While several acclaimed Indian novelists like Arundhati Roy and Salman Rushdie have won this prestigious award before, Shree is the first one to win it for a book that was originally written in Hindi and later translated into English by Daisy Rockwell.

Early Beginnings

Born on July 12, 1957, in the city of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, Geetanjali Shree spent her childhood moving from town to town due to her father's job as a civil servant. As a kid, she couldn't access many children's books written in English, which led her to stick to reading Hindi novels. This and her rearing in Uttar Pradesh fostered her connection to the Hindi language.

She grew up to study history at the all-women Shri Ram College in Delhi and attained a master's degree at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Later on, she continued to pursue a PhD at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, wherein she focused her research on the works of the acclaimed Hindi writer Munshi Premchand, which sparked her interest in Hindi literature. It was during this time that she wrote her first short story while sitting on a train from Baroda to Delhi with her husband. When he read it, he said that it did not feel like he was reading the work of a first-time author. 

When speaking to an audience in Ranchi, Shree recounted how her father's dream for her was to see her become an IAS officer. He even tried bribing her into fulfilling his wishes with a Rs. 100 note, but she turned it down. This was when she knew that she wanted to be a writer and had just taken the first step towards becoming one.

“I didn’t want to become an IAS officer and then marry one. I wanted to be a writer, a Hindi writer.” 

 Geetanjali Shree -

Her first ever published work was a short story called 'Bel Patra', which was featured in the literary magazine Hans in 1987. Prior to 'Tomb of Sand,' her writings included two short story collections and four novels.

Tomb of Sand

'Tomb of Sand' is the story of an eighty-year-old recently widowed woman and her journey of self-discovery, grief and healing while battling depression and PTSD from repressed memories of the Partition.

Translations make up a small fraction of the books published in Western countries. Translated works from South Asia make up an even smaller part of that fragment. This is why it came as a shock to Shree when her book picked up sales in the UK and US when it was not doing so well in India itself. Her winning the International Booker Prize further cements the fact that this book is an exceptional masterpiece. This book has expanded the horizons of South Asian literature to do well in the West. Since its victory, many major Indian publishing houses have begun picking up more regional works to be translated, ushering in a new era for regional writers.

“If we want to be truly representative of the country, we have to do translations,” said Manasi Subramaniam, editor-in-chief of Penguin Random House India. “Even in India, people could be looking at translations in a whole new way due to the success of ‘Tomb of Sand’.”

Tribute to Her Mother Tongue

In many interviews, Shree expresses her amazement at the fact that she consistently chooses to write in Hindi when she can follow the norm and write in English instead. She is aware that English works are easier to get published and picked up from bookshelves, but it is her connection to her mother and her upbringing, due to which she continues to be a Hindi writer. She says it is most natural for her to write in her mother tongue. She has no qualms against those who choose to write in English but raises the question as to why. "Is it by accident that some of us choose Hindi and others English?" she asks. It makes us think about how deep-rooted the impact of our colonial is and how it continues to affect even the most mundane decisions like which language we choose to speak.

Life After Winning

Since her fame, Geetanjali Shree has been listed by Forbes and BBC as one of the many South Asian women influencing the world and inspiring the next generation of women. She has also appeared in several interviews and travelled to different venues and literary festivals to give talks. In the meanwhile, she has not stopped writing and is working on her sixth novel, which she continues to remain tight-lipped about.