Writer Kiran Nagarkar gets Germany’s top civilian honour

Days after Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Order of Australia, another Mumbaiite, writer Kiran Nagarkar has received the highest civilian honour from a foreign government.

Days after Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the Order of Australia, another Mumbaiite, writer Kiran Nagarkar has received the highest civilian honour from a foreign government.

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Nagarkar, a bilingual author, whose fifth novel, The Extras, was published earlier this year, has been given Germany’s Order of Merit, the “highest tribute the country can pay to individuals for services to the nation”.

All of Nagarkar’s novels have been translated into German, and God’s Little Soldier, his fourth novel, published both in English and in German in 2006, has consistently been on the best-seller list in that country. It has sold more than 17,000 copies in hardback, and its paperback version continues to do well in bookstores there.

“I am happy to get this award, because it means not only is one’s work recognised but, importantly, the issues I deal with in my books through the medium of story-telling are grasped and dealt with,” Nagarkar said. The award will be given to him by Germany’s ambassador to India, Michael Steiner, at a function at a city hotel next week.