The infinite justice & wisdom of Ms Roy

Arundhati Roy is a self-described ?independent mobile republic?, which is a wonderful thing to be in these days of wireless telephony.

Arundhati Roy is a self-described “independent mobile republic”, which is a wonderful thing to be in these days of wireless telephony. In her latest display of underlining her fierce individuality, the writer with a million causes, collections of essays and one novel has told the Sahitya Akademi, which has awarded her this year’s Sahitya Akademi prize, ‘thanks, but no thanks’. Ms Roy’s reason for not accepting the award is that the Akademi is an institution linked to the government whose policies she opposes, and, ergo, she will have nothing to do with an award it doles out.

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As applause breaks out in various circles for Ms Roy’s grand stand against that edifice which she believes to only represent Big People, it must be pointed out that the irony is extreme. The Sahitya Akademi pundits had chosen her as the winner for her collection of essays, The Algebra of Infinite Justice, a book that lambasts in purple prose and swinging metaphors the very State of India behind whose apron the Sahitya Akademi purportedly hides.

Ms Roy is more comfortable accepting awards like the Sydney Peace Prize, even though it could have been a tad awkward accepting an award funded by the city of Sydney, which happens to be a country that supported the US-led war in Iraq. But it’s quite understandable to firm up one’s moral judgment at home than outside the country. But, hang on, what is home to Ms Roy? Oh, for those simple Booker Prize-winning days.