{"id":337685,"date":"2022-05-27T04:34:06","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=337685"},"modified":"2022-05-27T05:05:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:35:36","slug":"geetanjali-shree-wins-international-booker-prize-for-first-hindi-novel-tomb-of-sand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/geetanjali-shree-wins-international-booker-prize-for-first-hindi-novel-tomb-of-sand\/","title":{"rendered":"Geetanjali Shree wins Booker Prize for first Hindi novel ‘Tomb of Sand’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author Geetanjali Shree\u2019s Hindi novel \u2018Tomb of Sand\u2019 has become the first book in any Indian language to win the prestigious International Booker Prize.<\/span><\/p>\n

At a ceremony in London on Thursday, the New Delhi-based writer said she was \u201ccompletely overwhelmed\u201d with the \u201cbolt from the blue\u201d as she accepted her prize, worth GBP 50,000 and shared with the book\u2019s English translator, Daisy Rockwell.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Tomb of Sand\u2019, originally \u2018Ret Samadhi\u2019, is set in northern India and follows an 80-year-old woman in a tale the Booker judges dubbed a \u201cjoyous cacophony\u201d and an \u201cirresistible novel\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could. What a huge recognition, I\u2019m amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled,\u201d said Ms. Shree, in her acceptance speech.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a melancholy satisfaction in the award going to it. \u2018Ret Samadhi\/Tomb of Sand\u2019 is an elegy for the world we inhabit, a lasting energy that retains hope in the face of impending doom. The Booker will surely take it to many more people than it would have reached otherwise, that should do the book no harm,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n