‘It’s a proud Hindi moment’, says Indian author on International Booker shortlist

“I am a bit stupefied and very delighted,” says Geetanjali Shree, speaking hours after her novel Ret Samadhi, translated into English as ‘Tomb of Sand’, went from the longlist to the shortlist of the International Booker Prize

“I am a bit stupefied and very delighted,” says Geetanjali Shree, speaking hours after her novel Ret Samadhi, translated into English as ‘Tomb of Sand’, went from the longlist to the shortlist of the International Booker Prize. “I am also very honoured and humbled.”

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‘Ret Samadhi’ or ‘Tomb of Sand’ is the first work translated from Hindi to ever be in the running for the prestigious award. From a longlist of 13, it is now on a shortlist of six. The winner of the prestigious literary prize will receive 50,000 pounds, to be split evenly between the author and translator.

Shree, a celebrated Hindi writer, told HT in an interview last month that she was not thinking about winning — “Something wonderful has happened to me. For me, it’s a proud Hindi moment. Let’s leave it at that,” she had said. She is not thinking about winning now either.

“I really don’t want to go in that direction. This is a bolt from the blue and a very nice one. If there are more bolts from the blue that are equally nice, I’ll be happy,” she says, “but I don’t want to make it my way or my business. I protect my space. I have made writing my way of life and that’s what I’ll keep doing.”

‘Ret Samadhi’, translated by American translator and writer Daisy Rockwell, is Shree’s fifth novel. It is the story of an 80-year-old Indian woman who loses her husband, turns her back on her life and family, and travels to Pakistan, to her pre-partition past. It’s a complex story, wrought in a unique literary style. Some chapters are a single sentence. In others, a single sentence might stretch over three pages. Shree also uses words in unusual ways, pairing words that roll into one another; or words that sound the same but mean completely different things. Rockwell’s translation captures all these and is a tour de force.

“Often language is treated as just the carrier of ideas, of the story. For me, language has its own presence and independent personality,” Shree told HT in March.

Growing up in small towns across Uttar Pradesh, Shree says she always spoke in Hindi with her mother. “My Hindi was nurtured by her,” she adds. What would Shree say to the millions of Indians who don’t read except in English?

“It is a pity that so many of us don’t have access to the very rich lineage of our mother tongues. I would say to those who know their mother tongue and can access it: Perhaps this is an opportunity to rethink these things,” she says. “Treat these languages with greater respect and curiosity. Give them the love and respect they deserve, without getting jingoistic or chauvinistic about it. There is in our reach and in our heritage a very rich lineage which it would be lovely if we could begin to access.”

The other five titles in the shortlist are: Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur from Korean; A New Name: Septology VI-VII by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls from Norwegian; Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Samuel Bett and David Boyd from Japanese; Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle from Spanish; and The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from Polish.

This year, the shortlisted authors and translators will each receive 2,500 pounds — increased from 1,000 pounds in previous years.