1st International Booker for Hindi novel by Indian

NEW DELHI: “I feel a sense of wonderment about my own work, that so many people, sitting so far away, have read the book and liked it,” Geetanjali Shree told HT when her Hindi novel, Ret Samadhi, was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in March.

The book, Shree’s fifth and translated into English as Tomb of Sand, was awarded the prize on Thursday, making her the first Indian author to win the International Booker, which started in 2005 for a book translated into English from a foreign language.

Three other Indians have won the Booker Prize (formerly the Man Booker prize) for the best novel written originally in English — Arundhati Roy in 1997, Kiran Desai in 2006, and Aravind Adiga in 2008.

At a ceremony in London, the 64-year-old New Delhi-based writer said she was “completely overwhelmed” as she accepted her £50,000 prize. The prize is split between the author, and the

Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand was awarded the prize, making her the first Indian author to win the International Booker. Only three other Indians have previously won the Booker Prize translator, Daisy Rockwell, equally.

Set in northern India, Tomb of Sand follows an 80-year-old widow as she travels to Pakistan, to confront her pre-partition past, and tries to re-evaluate what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, and a feminist.

Amazed and delighted while accepting the award, Shree said, “I never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could. What a huge recognition, I’m honoured and humbled.”

Describing her book as an “elegy for the world we inhabit”, Shree said, “there is a melancholy satisfaction in the award going to it.”

But, the author added, “This is not just about me... I represent a language and culture and this recognition brings into larger purview the entire world of Hindi literature in particular and