Here's my review of The Inheritance of Loss.

Also a funny excerpt from her previous novel Hullabaloo.

"Desai, 35, is the youngest woman to win the Booker prize. The Inheritance of Loss is her second novel." [Link]

I just ordered the book from Amazon. Just going to watch her interview on Newsnight coming up in five minutes. How exciting! As if Jabeen Akhtar in a tiger cage wasnt enough for one evening.

Correction to the press release - Kiran Desai *was* a student in the MFA program at Columbia back in '96. I used to work with her at the Reserves desk at Butler Library. She's one of the nicest and most humble people I've come across. Hullabaloo is such a fun book. People complained that it was too R.K. Narayan-esque but I say we need more playful, delightful, and sensitive work like hers. I haven't finished The Inheritance of Loss yet ...

This is a surprise...I've read the book, and though good, definitely did not think it was Booker-worthy. Multiculturalism in literary acknowledgment at play here?...Been a while (Arundhati Roy in '97) since a-'"Brownie" you're doing heckuva job'-moment for the Chattering Classes...

hooray!! i'm so happy for Kiran Desai!! let the brown literary movement expand on and on and on...

I've read the book, and though good, definitely did not think it was Booker-worthy

I agree-- even the shortlisting was a surprise. She's not as good as Rushdie or Ondaatje. But don't quote me on that ;)

Wow - is this Master P, Amardeep's son, blogging already?

Yay, congrats to Kiran!

The book goes to the first position in my "to-read" queue.

Wow - is this Master P, Amardeep's son, blogging already?

Literary dad, literary son :) P.S. New diaper, thanks. Use the Desitin this time, I think I have postcolonial rash.

Did Salman Rushdie call it when he included her work in Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing (1947-1997), an anthology that he edited with Elizabeth West back in 1997? In his introduction, he described Hullabaloo as a "highly original book ... lush and intensely imagined" and went on to say "Kiran Desai is the daughter of Anita: her arrival establishes the first dynasty of modern Indian fiction. But she is very much her own writer, the newest of all these voices, and welcome proof that India's encounter with the English language, far from proving abortive, continues to give birth to new children, endowed with lavish gifts."

Desai waves the Indian flag proudly:

I left India when I was 15 so my memories of India are strong. Also, I still have family here and return to the family home every year… I was born in Chandigarh and I have lived in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and the Kalimpong hills… the heart of where I work from, even while writing about America, comes from having grown up in India, from having an Indian family and from being an Indian.

… the delight of sitting on a Delhi rooftop in the winter sun, eating kebabs and listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; of swimming in the Jamuna at Tajewala with our beloved family dog; going to Ranthambore, Sariska and Corbett Park in the hopes of seeing a tiger but never seeing one; getting cooking lessons from the family cook; the joy of going to the Himalayas for the summer; big political events, like the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the riots that followed; the horrors of school–I still can’t wear the shade of pink that is the Loreto Convent uniform; and above all, the jokes and the good humour that, to me, is so deeply a part of India. I miss it terribly…It’s a wonderful time to be an Indian writer. We are not a scrawny, undernourished society anymore. [Link]

While y'all are reloading your Amazon queues, let me put in a good word for Tokyo Cancelled.

Use the Desitin this time, I think I have postcolonial rash.

Awesome. Somebody give this baby a Booker Prize.

Somebody give this baby a Booker Prize.

Thanks, but I'm not sure I'd beat Zadie for le youngest.

No worries. Zadie's as yet unBookered.

Zadie's as yet unBookered.

Mmm... Zadie gives me colonial overhang.

Well, she was very gracious, humble and endearing in her interview, saying that her mother Anita Desai was too nervous on her behalf to attend the ceremony and was in a village somewhere in India away from TV or a telephone. Her mother's advice was to wear a sari and no matter what happens, to just get on with writing the next day, because that is what matters. She said the prize money (£50,000) will come in handy because she has no health insurance, and that the novel came together incrementally, from quarter stories here, half stories there, another third of a story there, and that's why it took eight years to write. She said that even though she has lived away from India for so long, she doesnt think about any issue without relating it to her home, and she managed to keep smiling, when I cringed, when the interviewer asked her how she managed to recreate 'the smells and colours' of India whilst living in New York. All we needed was to be asked how she recreated the taste of mangoes and it would have been perfect.

Well done Kiran.

All we needed was to be asked how she recreated the taste of mangoes

I think you mean guavas :)

Mmm... Zadie gives me colonial overhang.

No! No Zadie bashing...the Smith is sacred.

As are both the Desais...leftist polemicism and eloquence never go unrewarded :)

Good for Kiran.

BTW, I just wanted to state that I wasn't pseudonymously blogging using my son's name. Someone else is "Puran." Not that I mind (and I like "Desitin")... I just wanted it to be clear.

Do i discern a trend towards new/younger writers at the Booker?
Her mother has been nominated thrice but never could make it. I think her best chance was with In Custody , when she unfortunately lost to the other Anita's rather mediocre Hotel du lac .

I wasn't pseudonymously blogging using my son's name.

Can't the offspring of a literary talent get any credit around here?

Can't the offspring of a literary talent get any credit around here?

Only on the booker

The dude that wrote FukYoCouch is awarded my Booker Prize.

And so with Kiran Desai, another generation of British Indian women in their late twenties/early thrities grit their teeth and sigh with an inchoate sense of jealousy :-D

(I only know British Indian girls)

Hey, wouldnt it be funny if it was discovered that she'd plaigarised this shit hehehe

"THEOF" !

THE Intrepeter OF Maladies
THE Inheritance OF Loss

Any more come to mind?

"THEOF" ! Any more come to mind?

The India of Mangoes

The Mediator of Curry

"THEOF" ! Any more come to mind?

The Tao of Pooh

The House of Blue Mangoes
The Mistress of Spices
The Tao of Steve

Hey Manish, are you taking notes? This could very well be what it's like a few months after you own magnum opus comes out!

The winner was chosen, after a long, passionate and generous debate...

Damn. Sounds like it was more fun for judges than for anyone else. As far as I know, not since Monica's stained dress have these particular adjectives been deployed together.

Which leads me to one of my pet peeves. Why are press-releases for book prizes always so sophomorically written? The typical Nobel citation is a minefield of mixed metaphors and dangling modifiers. There's Harold Pinter, "who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms."

The members of the Swedish Academy should be forced into one of oppression's tight trousers and shot for crimes against enthusiasm.

THE Intrepeter OF Maladies
THE Inheritance OF Loss
THE Mistress OF Spices (nice Manish)

THEOF

The Children of Midnight.

At least until some wiseguy editor changed it.

This could very well be what it's like a few months after you own magnum opus comes out!

For first-time novelists, more likely *crickets* :)

The India of Mangoes

The Mediator of Curry

the pungency of pickles
the rotundity of the rasagollas

Or the famous trilogy: the charm of the choli, the prankishness of the pallu, the paranoia of purda

The Death of Vishnu! (Manil Suri)

The Buddha of Surburbia! (Hanif Kureishi)

It's officially a freakin' epidemic...

"who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms."

That sounds like some commenters here.

For first-time novelists, more likely *crickets* :)

I know at least one author who'd disagree with you... I hear that she's been getting used to the sound of crickets more recently though ;)

It's officially a freakin' epidemic...

Like desi women stripping naked for PETA!

THE Torrents of Spring (Ernest Hemingway)
THE End of Poverty (Jeffrey Sachs)
and some stretches...
... (Love in) THE Time of Cholera
(Haroun and) THE Sea of Stories
:)

guys, guys, guys - it s gotta be famous desi lady authors :-)

We are not a scrawny, undernourished society anymore.

Silly, delusional, self-centred broad. I'd like to see her tell that to the half of all indian children who are chronically malnourished.

Controversy!

DESI DORK,

I think taking her point out of context doesn't do you any favours. She's speaking figuratively of India's identity in the world's perception. No one can deny the demographic reality of the 'Other India' that exists and is constantly being denied by Time and Newsweek covers, but Desai was talking about the richness of our literary establishment.

In fact I wanna say something harsh to you, but I'm so keen to read The Inheritance of Loss and so excited that I've got a new Arundhati that your name pretty much says it all for you :)

Stop being jealous (even though we all are, a li'l bit) and have some brown pride! There's nothing wrong with a bit once in a while :)

I'd like to see her tell that to the half of all indian children who are chronically malnourished.

Um, half the novel is a jeremiad against globalization's effects on poor Indians.

Congrats to Kiran! I liked the book, especially the storylines set in New York City. literarysafari, I'd love to hear your thoughts on IoL when are you done...

All joking aside with "THE ___ OF ___" - Any language specialists around?

In contemporary colloquial American English one would be more likely to hear "Vishnu's Death" than "The Death of Vishnu." Are book titles put in that form because it sounds more "literary" or is is a language or translation thing? It seems most of the titles mentioned were written in English anyway...

Anyone?

Contractions are informal. The ... of ... sounds more majestic, unless you want an informal ring (Lorenzo's Oil).

...does this have anything to do with the fact that Hindi, for example, has no contraction for the possessive per se. We use "ka"....as in baap ka bageecha

Contractions are informal. The ... of ... sounds more majestic, unless you want an informal ring (Lorenzo's Oil).

True. Imagine 'Ring's Lords'....or 'Being's Unbearable Lightness'.

True. Imagine 'Ring's Lords'....or 'Being's Unbearable Lightness'.

Well done Kiran Desai!

"Contractions are informal. The ... of ... sounds more majestic, unless you want an informal ring (Lorenzo's Oil)."

The Lorenzo of Oil

Wrath's Grapes ?

Job's Book.

Wrath's Grapes ?

Mohicans' Last?

Two can play this game :) .

Desai was talking about the richness of our literary establishment.

Thats a silly, stupid spin tash, that reveals a lot about you.

So when she wrote that indians are not a scrawny and undernourished society anymore, she was actually talking about the english language "literary establishment" that a tiny fraction of indian society partakes in? LOL.

wouldn't that be The Oil of Lorenzo?

Thats a silly, stupid spin tash

RTFA. She's talking about Indian writing in English:

What is your view on Indian English writing? Are Indians writing in English finally getting their due or are there too many Indians writing in English?

The more the better, in my opinion. It takes many books to adequately portray a country and the experience of being Indian. I think Indian writing in English is maturing and while earlier, there used to be only a few books coming out, now there is a feeling of plenty. It’s a wonderful time to be an Indian writer. We are not a scrawny, undernourished society anymore. [Link]

Imagine 'Ring's Lords'....or 'Being's Unbearable Lightness'.

Sign's Painter
Arrival's Enigma
Pi's Life
Sun Alsorises

Um, half the novel is a jeremiad against globalization's effects on poor Indians.

I'm not surprised. The delightful Mr. Pankaj Mishra was utterly tickled by her tale:

Desai takes a skeptical view of the West's consumer-driven
multiculturalism, noting the "sanitized elegance" of Lola's daughter's
British-accented voice, which is "triumphant over any horrors the world
might thrust upon others." At such moments, Desai seems far from writers
like Zadie Smith and Hari Kunzru, whose fiction takes a generally
optimistic view of what Salman Rushdie has called "hybridity, impurity,
intermingling, the transformation that comes of new and unexpected
combinations of human beings, cultures, ideas, politics, movies, songs."

In fact, Desai's novel seems to argue that such multiculturalism, confined
to the Western metropolis and academe, doesn't begin to address the causes
of extremism and violence in the modern world. Nor, it suggests, can
economic globalization become a route to prosperity for the downtrodden.
"Profit," Desai observes at one point, "could only be harvested in the gap
between nations, working one against the other."

Any novel "arguing" against globalization and multiculturalism is liable to be sick with the torsion that springs from self-righteousness, and will only appeal to idealogues espousing your politics. A bad recipe for literature, unless you have the preternatural gifts of say, Tolstoy. This applies to any writer, any political leaning. Naipaul extolling Hindutva and excoriating Marxists would be funny, but most probably just as sententious.

Speaking of Naipaul:

Early in the novel, she sets two Anglophilic Indian women to discussing "A Bend in the River," V. S.
Naipaul's powerfully bleak novel about traditional Africa's encounter with
the modern world. Lola, whose clothesline sags "under a load of Marks and
Spencer's panties," thinks Naipaul is "strange. Stuck in the past. . . . He
has not progressed. Colonial neurosis, he's never freed himself from it."
Lola goes on to accuse Naipaul of ignoring the fact that there is a "new
England," a "completely cosmopolitan society" where "chicken tikka masala
has replaced fish and chips as the No. 1 takeout dinner."

Fuck Yo Couch England. And Ms. Desai, that is hackneyed and wrong. The Enigma of Arrival is beyond you.

I wonder if India is the only country in the world whose literary lions write in a foreign language that is incomprehensible to the vast majority of its citizens?

It is also very shameful that desis are one of the very few peoples of the world (the only others are africans I think)who need a foreign language to do science and technology in.

I suspect that this craven, slavish reliance on english is one of the major reasons why the subcontinent lags behind the rest of the world.

What other language would you have Indians do science in? Hindi?
Or would you like people of each state to do science in their own language?

Small Things' God
The Matters of the Family

I suspect that this craven, slavish reliance on english is one of the major reasons why the subcontinent lags behind the rest of the world.

I suspect that this absurd refusal to let go of futile self-defeating nationalism is one of the major reasons why the subcontinent lags behind the rest of the world. (Incidentally, I love that there are so many people here complaining about people who write well in English, in English.)

Kya baat hai!

What other language would you have Indians do science in? Hindi?
Or would you like people of each state to do science in their own language?
>>Surely their mother tongue. Or you think science and math cant be tought in those languages?
And Macacaroach thats one of the biggest reason. Those who study in their native language are looked down upon. And develop inferiority complex. A friend who passed out from the two premium Technology and Management institute of India confessed this to me.

I suspect that this absurd refusal to let go of futile self-defeating nationalism is one of the major reasons why the subcontinent lags behind the rest of the world.

Kya baat hai!

So i guess Language is now part of nationality not the culture. And isnt this site all about South Asian culture? Probably that and english language.

Bilkul sahi baat hai Jaanab!

What is your view on Indian English writing? Are Indians writing in English finally getting their due or are there too many Indians writing in English?

The more the better, in my opinion. It takes many books to adequately portray a country and the experience of being Indian. I think Indian writing in English is maturing and while earlier, there used to be only a few books coming out, now there is a feeling of plenty. It’s a wonderful time to be an Indian writer. We are not a scrawny, undernourished society anymore. [Link]

Of course she says that...it suits her very well. I would love to know if she can speak ANY Indian language half way decently...oh I forgot, English IS an Indian language now. Because people like her say so...how convenient.

Is green the new brown?

Kobayashi-San, you're so ecologically minded (all this talk about Green and Brown) yet you have still to leave a single comment on the animal rights thread ;)

I suspect that this craven, slavish reliance on english is one of the major reasons why the subcontinent lags behind the rest of the world.

macacaroach, (or anyone who chooses to answer) - Do you have any arguments in support of your claim that the use of English is holding the subcontinent back? I can see one main argument each for and against this doing science in say, Kannada.

For: All people, esp. rural folk in Karnatake , can get easy access to science without having to first learn a strange language that they have had difficult time learning (and the usual class issues associated with English speaking makes it painful for them to work in that language without mastering it fully). This keeps a lot of potential sci-tech talent away. I'm trying to understand if this is your argument.

Against: English is something of "the language of science" today. Scientists all over the world have to learn in anyway, even if they usually do science in their national language. most sci-tech literature is in English. Sticking to it will free communication with the outside world.

I assume that in any case, there are no arguments supporting the suggestion that there must be ONE national language for science which must not be English or another European language.

amardeep (#65), are you assuming that arguments for having a non-English language for sci-tech has to be based on jingoism?

Is green the new brown?

And Macacaroach thats one of the biggest reason. Those who study in their native language are looked down upon. And develop inferiority complex.

India must be one of the very few servile nations of the world in which not understanding a foreign language, bequeathed by a long gone foreign master, condemns the great majority of its natives to second-class status in their own motherland!

This servility extends even towards the pre-british masters of India: the muslims from west and central asia. For you must have the west-central asian look, as opposed to the stereotypical desi look, to be considered movie star or model material in India.

Its interesting how many of the posters here, Macaulay's children obviously, see nothing amiss about this embarassing situation...

Macacaroach, I agree with you (as far as the language issue is concerned). That's all I can say for now, tomorrow I'll give more reasons if the thread develops that way.

I for one cannot support any novel unless it's written in Sanskrit, bound in khadi cloth, written on banana leaves and has the tricolor as the cover.

I for one cannot support any novel unless it's written in Sanskrit, bound in khadi cloth, written on banana leaves and has the tricolor as the cover.

You don't read much, I gather.

This servility extends even towards the pre-british masters of India: the muslims from west and central asia. For you must have the west-central asian look, as opposed to the stereotypical desi look, to be considered movie star or model material in India.

Dude, a hottie is a hottie. If Bollywood can't like 'em, there's no reason for the rest of us to fall in line. And there are plenty of South Indian actresses who don't fit the "west-central asian look." Fight the power! I'll support that cause.

I wonder if India is the only country in the world whose literary lions write in a foreign language that is incomprehensible to the vast majority of its citizens?

Most assuredly not. There are dozens of African nations that fit the same bill, and plenty of Asian ones, too.

Rather than politicizing things, it might interesting to explore further.

English spread through military action and religious instruction. We all know that. But it didn't have to stick, of course.

I don't know Sanskrit. My Hindi is not nearly as good as my parents'. I can't profess to understand shuddha to save my life. But I do know this: it seems to me that it is generally far easier to say certain things in English than in Hindi. I am hardly an English apologist, but there are reasons why English has spread so far and wide and become such a common tongue worldwide. Hindi can be lyrical, but it simply doesn't have the same flexibility in many regards, objectively speaking. My Hindi speaking cousins demonstrate this daily, by switching to English whenever they attempt to explain something complex, particularly technical, or very emotional.

And before anyone tears me a new one, I'm not claiming English is "better," just attempting to explain why so many people speak it, and appear to enjoy writing it. Bear with me. I might be totally wrong, but this is just my attempt to explain. I'd be happy to hear theories from other people.

First, Hindi is a "minimal vocabulary" language. There are generally no homonyms, homophones, heteronyms, or homographs in Hindi or Sanskrit. While ostensibly this makes English more confusing to learn, it also means there is more room for play if you understand it. In Hindi / Urdu (and presumably in other Indo languages), a given word has a particular spelling, and no other spelling. No other word has that spelling. A word means the same thing, regardless of usage.

English has no such constraints.

Hindi, like many Indo-European languages, has gender inflection. It also has three levels of honorifics, and genderless pronouns.

Then again, English has plenty of quirks of its own.

Probably the most important thing, though, is that English (particularly American English) is a very fluid language. It changes from generation to generation, and incorporates slang, cognates, and all kinds of junk. And it's inconsistent. That means it's great for conveying information.

And then there are mechanisms that promote English, too. A great deal of world advertising is in English, which only amplifies its spread.

Thats a silly, stupid spin tash, that reveals a lot about you.

So when she wrote that indians are not a scrawny and undernourished society anymore, she was actually talking about the english language "literary establishment" that a tiny fraction of indian society partakes in? LOL.

...Before you go LOlling your dorky self off, mate, why don't you stop to think about, as Amardeep at #65 excellently pointed out, why you're making your eloquent arguments against a supposedly elitist, secretive brown sahib literary establishment in English? And why you have access to the internet and a computer, luxuries so tragically denied to so many of the world's population of whom you see yourself as the sole defender...

I'm guessing you're not in a village somewhere wearing hand-woven clothes and singing traditional village songs in your local dialect...in fact I'm getting more of a Chairman Mao satchel-carrying, Black Power t-shirt wearing kinda vibe...

Get a grip! As Manish pointed out (I just looked up RTFA on urban dictionary so thank you!), Desai was talking about Indian literature.

Look, I wasn't saying that people don't care about scrawny, undernourished little children. But painting yourself as a walking, talking World Vision advertisement and Desai as a selfish, white-on-the-inside writer doesn't do you any favours.

If you've read her writing, which I happen to think is eloquent and intelligent and beautiful, then you'll see that she would probably share some similar political views to you. She just doesn't lord them over other people's heads.

Salil,
Your post began with me agreeing in general, but ended with me vehemently nodding my head disapprovingly to being forced to respond. I'll not argue the differences between languages you describe. I completely disagree with your conclusion about Hindi's ability to flex, absorb and change with the times. To me your arguments indicate simply a lack of mastery and understanding of hindi's (or Hindustani's) current or part forms. Have you read Nirala, Pant, Guleri, and Premchand, and any present-day authors? I'm presuming not, otherwise it would be near impossible to make those claims. Hindi, or any other language for that matter, changes with time and usage. That's not special to English. Languages borrow, and that's aplenty in Hindi, and Hindustani is really a mix of two langugages - Hindi and Urdu. That's what Premchand's writings can be considered as being written in, yet they are considered one of the most accessible writings to a commoner.

You talk about your hindi speaking cousins who can't hold their language when explaining something complex, particularly technical, or very emotional. How about a bet that they go/went to an English-medium school, so they borrow from two languages to form an expression. How's that translate into any shortcoming of any language? As far as that goes, have you ever heard Amitabh Bacchhan speak in Hindi outside of films? His Hindi is as flawless as his English. Or for that matter with most kids who go to hindi-medium or native-language schools - they are perfectly fine expressing in their respective native tongues.

I'll suggest why so many people speak English, though 'so many' still means a minority in India. English is the last invader language. Had there been no British, perhaps the erstwhile Mughal 'shaai zubaan' might have been dominant. So English had it going in terms of social acceptance and even as a step on the ladder to social ascendence. The 20th century was sort of a perfect storm of dominant invader language in India, modern international standards of education of sciences and maths, and further ascendency of the English language post WWII as it belonged to those victors that had the largest global mindshare (You can bet had the result not been what it was, German would be a pretty popular lang!). Hence suddenly it made sense to promote the language. Add to that the fact that all higher education in India is 'western' in methodology, and approach, it pretty much drives itself to English. English has critical mass in terms of literary, technical and scientific writings so its like ebay in that people have to speak English in order to transact with the largest pool of people with a common language. Then consider the weird irony that since there were many competing indegenous languages in India, to communicate English seemed well suited as a compromise due to all the above, AND because in addition it seemed fair in that no one would be forced to cede importance to their neighbor's language.

Sanskrit seems on the decline precisely because day-to-day learning is based on western systems of imparting knowledge, and that modern sciences and math have not originated in Sanskrit, and converting all modern material into Sanskrit seems pointless when teaching in English is already well set. I did study Sanskrit for a few years, and actually its easier to construct sentences in it because the words can be put togther in many different orders or combined in multiple ways and still be grammatically correct. But it has no practical use as it lacks critical mass.

a given word has a particular spelling, and no other spelling. No other word has that spelling. A word means the same thing, regardless of usage.

Seriously Salil you have limited knowledge of Hindi/ Hindustani/ Urdu.

Even a matra, can change the meaning of the word. There is a very elaborate vocabulary. It does not used in day-to-day interactions. Sure, some comes from English. My mother once had a project to translate Chemistry textbook in Hindi - I have seen reams of technical vocabulary in Hindi.

A simple example, "chand" can mean moon, or something pleases your heart, or beloved. chanda would be used for a son, chandini for a female. In English you have past, present, future, in Sanskrit, you have past, present, future different for first, second, and third person. Also, male and female version changes.

I have no problem with English. It has been in India long enough.

However, local languages should not die out too. There are books on science and technology in other local languages. I think now IIT JEE has entrance exam in some of the other Indian languages. IAS and other civil services does, definitely.

Often, a future Silicon Valley guru through IIT might have learned math, physics, chemistry in their local language till 9th grade in their local schools, and they switch to English books around 9th-10th grade.

I haven't read a lot of vernacular literature, a few hindi writers and a few translations from other languages; mostly Ashapurna Devi, Bimal Mitra, Narendra Kohli, Shivaji Savant, Shankar, and the standard classic ones: Saratchandra, Premchandra, etc. I have also read a fair number of Indian writers in english, and my personal opinion is that for the most part they are yet to match up to the level of insight into Indian history, mythology, philosophy and psychological make-up that vernacular writing has. This is not to say that there are not good Indian writers writing in english. But they are only a few few excellent ones; I wonder how many of these will be remembered a few decades from now. Indian writing in english is still young.

I think it is a very valid concern that vernacular Indian writing is slowly dying out. My hope is that it will be able to take the Latin American route of translation into English. I've heard for the past few years that there is a fair amount of interest in Indian writing in Norway and also Japan, but do not really know.

Can we go back to the first thread, which is a discussion about the book itself? For those who have read it, I'd like to see more thoughtful commntary on it's literary qualities. The questions for me are these (and apologies it if goes to the heart of what Sepia Mutiny is all about):

1)Was this a book that merited the Booker Prize?
2)Who do we care so much that Kiran Desai is a desi in answering question #1?
3)What about getting rid of the label "Indian writer" altogether?

Salil:

There are generally no homonyms, homophones, heteronyms, or homographs in Hindi or Sanskrit.

This is simply not true. My father used to occasionally quote hindi poems based entirely around play of words. I don't have much of a memory for poetry, but I still remember two lines from one, about the many queens of Maharana Pratap, hiding from Akbar's soldiers:

teen ber khati thi ve teen ber khati hai, nag na jadati thi ve nagna jadati hai

Sadly that is all I remember now. Not exactly a fun-filled poem, but as you can see, pretty clever play of homonyms.

You know, I read her Hullaboo book, and I didn't really like it so much. For that matter, I couldn't get through Midnight's Children, suffered through Vikram Seth, and thought the Namesake was plotless. The "pink desi chick lit" book of "The Village Bride of Beverly Hills" was horrendous, and a quick afternoon read. Is it just me? I make it a point that every other book I read be desi lit, but I have to say, I haven't been blown away by any recently.

I wait in anticipation for the day that a David Sedaris- Desi Lit mashup to occur. Or a Desi Chick version of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. With mangoes and dysfuntional families galore.

Congrats to Kiran and writing a book over 8 years with no health insurance. Maybe I'll give her a second chance.

macacaroach, (or anyone who chooses to answer) - Do you have any arguments in support of your claim that the use of English is holding the subcontinent back?

You are not blind, see for yourself: the japanese do science and technology in japanese, the russians in russian, the koreans in korean, the chinese in chinese, the germans in german and so on. They are all miles ahead of the english-medium subcontinent. Their mother tongues do not seem to handicap them. And why should they?

Its only desis, and probably also africans, who, trapped in colonial servility, cannot imagine doing science in their native languages.

How can limiting modern education to a tiny fraction of the population NOT hold back a country's modernization??

Salil,
As for spelling, Hindi (and many other Indian languages) are phonetic, where the concept of spelling is not the same as in English. In Hindi, people will read what you write the way you wrote it, correctly spelled or not.
Personally, I like the lack of silent letters in words (example: knife) and different pronunciations for similar sets of letters (example: go, to).

Quick request to anyone who knows how to make 'em...

A Kiran Desai banner? I just saw Zadie Smith and thought if she gets to get one, Desai should too.

Despite her betrayal of the mothership in choosing to write in English and her "leftist polemicism" I think she's a very good writer...and we haven't had a pretty Indian girl bring home the Booker in almost a decade!

Does anyone else feel that the Booker's gotten less exciting than it used to be, though. Maybe it was the yawnfest that was last year's winner, or the random run it's had in the past few years, but I remember when Arundhati's Booker win being more exciting...

Fuck Yo Couch.

Also, so glad the brilliance that IS FukYoCouch's 55 is catching on...spread the couchness!...

but if we're gonna say it let's say it right.

FUKYoCouch :) Whereever FYC is I hope she/he is turning those 55 words into something bigger and better. It could be the world's first truly postmodern desi lit piece.

And Ms. Desai, that is hackneyed and wrong.

And it couldnt be that the characters say that because it demonstrates their hackneyed and facile understanding of the world, to conceive of globalisation only in British Council and tabloid cliches? Yes? No? Perhaps? Hmmmm....I don't know, I havent read it either, but rule one of any serious reading is not to reflexively confuse the rhetoric of characters with the easily zipped-up-in-a-sentence 'message' of the book or the writer.

The Enigma of Arrival is beyond you

So what?

Thanks, RedSnapper.

I'm still waiting for the long, extended, overly elaborated analogy though...*sniff*...I guess it's just me alone in procrastinating to avoid Public Law /

~~Yeah! FukYoCouch who are you? That story needs to be expanded on fast. Expand that storyline NOW. I want a novel with the FukYoCouch brothers NOW.

I'm still waiting for the long, extended, overly elaborated analogy though...*sniff*...I guess it's just me alone in procrastinating to avoid Public Law

I'm not in one of those moods. But I'll tell you what. There are enough characters on Sepia Mutiny to write a novel. Can you image FukYoCouch how brilliant his novel would be? And FukYoCouch's brother, the one who scuffs up the couch, his girlfriend could be this mad desi girl who strips naked and dresses up as a tiger, to protest and stuff. It could be about postcolonialism and multiculturalism 'and shit', as FukYoCouch's brother might say.

First, Hindi is a "minimal vocabulary" language. There are generally no homonyms, homophones, heteronyms, or homographs in Hindi or Sanskrit. While ostensibly this makes English more confusing to learn, it also means there is more room for play if you understand it. In Hindi / Urdu (and presumably in other Indo languages), a given word has a particular spelling, and no other spelling. No other word has that spelling. A word means the same thing, regardless of usage.English has no such constraints.

you have said that you hindi is not good enough still you are claiming that hindi has nearly no homonyms, homophones, heteronyms, or homographs . Like sakshi has given an example of yamak alankaar ( same word used twice but having different meaning) . It is one of the most popular alankar used in literature .Even
bollywood songs use this technique .like :

sajna hai mujhe sajna ke liye

Then there is slesh alankaar( using a word only once but having many meanings) . like

" paani gaye na ubere moti ,maanush,chun"

you are saying a word has same meaning regardless of usage.Ever heard word "kal " ,it means past or future depending upon usage . I can give many other examples also .

This is simply not true. My father used to occasionally quote hindi poems based entirely around play of words. I don't have much of a memory for poetry, but I still remember two lines from one, about the many queens of Maharana Pratap, hiding from Akbar's soldiers:

teen ber khati thi ve teen ber khati hai, nag na jadati thi ve nagna jadati hai

most probably this poem is by bhushan .

you may have heard this one also :

kanak kanak te so guni ,madaakta adhikaai ,
ya khaaye boraaye jag , va paaye booraaye ,

here kanak means gold and dhatura (yamak alankaar).

Does anyone else feel that the Booker's gotten less exciting than it used to be, though.

Can you imagine if FukYoCouch won it? Can you imagine his speech? 'Yo, FuckYoSpeech, FukYo literary establishment, FukYo award, hehehe'

Hindi can be lyrical, but it simply doesn't have the same flexibility

Disagree:

- Rhyming poems and songs are trivial in Hindi -- verbs in the same tense rhyme by default

- There are all kinds words in Hindi not easily expressed in English

- There's lots of punnery. E.g. the famous nakhun/na khoon (fingernails / no blood) couplet (Ghalib?) about cutting off heads bloodlessly.

- Hindi is a bastardized, portmanteau language, e.g. modern Hinglish

Hindi is a bastardized

Every language is bastardized - English is a mongrel language. Which (living) language is pure?

You know, I read her Hullaboo book, and I didn't really like it so much. For that matter, I couldn't get through Midnight's Children, suffered through Vikram Seth, and thought the Namesake was plotless. The "pink desi chick lit" book of "The Village Bride of Beverly Hills" was horrendous, and a quick afternoon read. Is it just me? I make it a point that every other book I read be desi lit, but I have to say, I haven't been blown away by any recently.

Huh! Dismissing Rushdie and Vikram Seth in the same breath? :-O Manish will put a Supari on you; that is, if Anna's Friend of a Friend doesn't get you first! You are treading on thin ice Taz:)

Booker for FukYoCouch now! I love FukYoCouch. I want to marry FukYoCouch, regardless of FukYo's sex. Me, FukYo and FukYo's brother (FukYoOwnCouch), what an awesome threesome!

Can you image FukYoCouch how brilliant his novel would be? And FukYoCouch's brother, the one who scuffs up the couch, his girlfriend could be this mad desi girl who strips naked and dresses up as a tiger, to protest and stuff. It could be about postcolonialism and multiculturalism 'and shit', as FukYoCouch's brother might say.

RS, you say you're not in the mood but you know you can't resist...

There's an overly extended example if ever I saw one!

And on a related note,

FukYoCouch for life! Better write that novel mothafuka ;) or I'll come and burn your Momma's couch down... also that 'it could be about multiculturalism and shit' eerily echoes some SHITE film writing I had to read in class today so don't hit too close to home or the traumatic memories of reading aloud someone's fantasy movie that should have stayed in their head will come flooding back (me as a green wisp of smoke symbolising a dead warrior's spirit as I get high with a white wisp of smoke while a sitar-playing hyrax watches on...and shit)

.Before you go LOlling your dorky self off, mate, why don't you stop to think about, as Amardeep at #65 excellently pointed out, why you're making your eloquent arguments against a supposedly elitist, secretive brown sahib literary establishment in English?

Lol. English is a language you dunce, not an ideological box that you are trapped in. What do you think prevents anyone from expressing broadminded views in English? Or any other language for that matter? Sheesh...

And why you have access to the internet and a computer, luxuries so tragically denied to so many of the world's population of whom you see yourself as the sole defender...

Lol. Whats funny is that this clown tash thinks he is making a good point here.

Get a grip! As Manish pointed out (I just looked up RTFA on urban dictionary so thank you!), Desai was talking about Indian literature.

How clever you two must be to think it makes sense to write that a society stops being scrawny and malnourished when its writers start publishing many novels in English. :)

Interesting that the people in India most fervently suppoorting native languages are Hindi speakers from the Cow Belt and Bengali chauvinists.

As a Tamilian, the English language is the only thing that has saved us from Hindi oppression.

English is India's only national language.

Whoa, DESI DORK:

calm down! I don't want this thread to get too personal and take away from the topic which is about Desai and her Booker win.

But all I'm saying is that maybe you should have read the article because you're still wrong about what she said. She was in fact talking about Indian writing in English and you must be aware that you took it totally out of context.

Secondly, anyone who isn't a total freshie (and the use of the insulting-word-my-Dad-would-use, 'dunce', gave it away) knows that Tash is not a guy's nickname. Shame.

Thirdly, If you want to call other people silly, stupid dunces, it's probably more effective if you don't start off by calling yourself a dork first.

Fourthly, I was wrong about the Chairman Mao and Black Power t shirt vibes. Me gettin' a coconut-oiled hair, checkered buttoned-up shirt one from you now...

She's a good writer. I'm not saying she's the best writer ever, but she's talented and has an eloquent, fresh, original style. So don't live up to your name and give her a try, you'll forgive her for her supposed scrawny-child hating in no time.

How clever you two must be to think it makes sense to write that a society stops being scrawny and malnourished when its writers start publishing many novels in English.

Seriously. And how can midnight have children? And grapes need an orchard, not wrath. The other day I bought some baby oil, but it isn't made from babies! And when I bought a firewall, I was shocked to see neither fire nor a wall.

I don't know Sanskrit. My Hindi is not nearly as good as my parents'. I can't profess to understand shuddha to save my life. But I do know this: it seems to me that it is generally far easier to say certain things in English than in Hindi.

Your ignorance of hindi has already been confirmed by others. Do explain how you manage to judge one language clearly superior to another....when you are largely ignorant of one of them?

You also seem to be rather clueless about science and its requirements in a language. Hint: inconsistency is not an advantage in the sciences, as you foolishly imagine.

Always amusing to see the high emotion and fancy five-dollar words around the use of english vs. indian languages. Naturally, given the emphasis on "national pride" "macaulay" "slavery" etc. the debate has now turned into a food fight between madrasis (tamil-speakers) and biharis (hindi-wallas). I am sure all of this must be very emotionally satisfying but, of course it doesnt add anything constructive and shows the bankruptcy of this style of discussion.

What would be much more impressive if people could point to web sites or other resources that track and describe recent publications in hindi, tamil, bangla etc. The Hindu magazine section carries some weekly reviews of mostly tamil/telugu/malayalam books, but its pretty thin and seems to be based entirely on what shows up on the editors desk.

Does anyone have information on such web sites or resources? How about a list of literary magazines in each of these languages that are viewed as current and exciting? Are there translations or summaries available in a routine way?

arguing about languages and Hindi (which I only learned by watching Amitabh films ;)).. so DOOSHOOOM this ;)... I found out that Feedelix Wireless just launched the first SMS Hindi messenger... and learned:

Hindi, the official language of India, has almost 500 million speakers around the world. Some estimates put Hindi as the second most spoken language in the world after Manadarin Chinese.

Back to Desai and the true gist of the chana masala... kudos to her.. I have yet to read the novel..one of these days.. when I come outta my can.

I'm the real deal. As for my brothaz, those that know, won't say.

And those that say, don't know...

Desidork - If you've come here to insult people, you've come to the wrong place. Say something constructive or begone.

desidork - Do you realise that only 30% of Indians speak Hindi? 30% does not constitute a big chunk.

Does anyone have information on such web sites or resources? How about a list of literary magazines in each of these languages that are viewed as current and exciting? Are there translations or summaries available in a routine way?

There are many websites devoted to Tamil literature..
http://tamil.sify.com/kalachuvadu/fullstory.php?id=14181530
You can goto that link and checkout the "www.xx.xxx" links.

Ofcourse they include daily newspapers / magazines / modern-post-modern literature (which ordinary people can't understand :-) ) / dalit / periyarist / propaganda websites etc.. I've found a few websites interesting..Unfortunately, I don't think translations are available..

Personally, I don't think I can compare two writers writing in different languages unless I know both the languages / have atleast read the translations of their works.. Popularity of a language depends on a lot of factors..

When Mughals / Muslims rulers were ruling northern India , Persian was the official language and that made the language popular.. but you can't see any trace of it now in India.. Who knows, the same thing could happen to English in the future..

Administrator on October 11, 2006 10:51 AM · Direct link Desidork - If you've come here to insult people, you've come to the wrong place. Say something constructive or begone

When Mughals / Muslims rulers were ruling northern India , Persian was the official language and that made the language popular.. but you can't see any trace of it now in India..

On second thoughts, I think common day-to-day Hindi/urdu is a mix of persian/turkish/local languages etc.. So there are still some traces..

When Mughals / Muslims rulers were ruling northern India , Persian was the official language and that made the language popular.. but you can't see any trace of it now in India.. Who knows, the same thing could happen to English in the future..

Difference is: Persian was imposed from the top, whereas English is growing in popularity from the ground up, inspite of various efforts to encourage vernacular languages.

All language discussions aside, I'm really looking forward to reading this book. And for what it's worth, I loved "The Namesake" so much. I've read it three times as well as "Interpreter of Maladies." I suppose that in the end, our perceived quality of a book is ultimately driven by personal taste. If anyone is interested in picking up some Desi-lit, there are two writers that I didn't see mentioned on this comment trail. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one that I like (particularly for her creative use of magical realism). I also like Rohintin Mistry, a Canadian-Desi writer. He wrote "A Fine Balance" which was an intricate urban epic that I really loved.

In India there are 14 national languages, with Hindi being the largest spoken(30%) (link). There are umpteen other languges that are spoken but are not officially a national languages.

Suppose as some said on this thread, let's agree that science, tech and other modern stuff should be taught in their respective native languages. For Japan, Korea, China, France, Germany, Spain, Italy etc.. it is pretty easy. One language for the whole country and one effort to convert stuff to their language. There is a huge real cost, monetary and temporal, associated with it. It will be a distaster if a Telugu can't speak to a Tamil guy and a Bangali can't speak to a Keralite, when there are both scientists and working on the same project. There are more political ramifications to it (fragmentation of society along the language lines).

So one why not develop the modern stuff one native Indian language (Hindi being the majority minority)? OK, What are the consequences to the remaining 70% of India? Now they have to learn Hindi and then English to get ahead in the world. For other peoples, they just have to learn English other than their native language. For the non-Hindi speakers of India, it is choice between learning two languages (Hindi & English) or one language (English). Obviously it makes sense to choose English over Hindi because English is more global.

Agreed that language and culture are intertwined. But for most people in India it is more important to live and get ahead in life (ie make money). Culture, environment, language come next. So that is why people of India learn to speak and write in English, not because they like to be servile.

This is very exciting. Kiran Desai is perhaps as humble as it gets. I read Hullabaloo but haven't read Inheritence. Might have to pick that up.

Hindi can be lyrical, but it simply doesn't have the same flexibility

I'll just substitute Hindi with Marathi since the same logic would apply and that is my tongue. I disagree because while I may have one or two expressions to describe me being sick or happy or angry in English, Marathi allows me different levels of depth of that emotion and several words to describe the same emotion and I find it so rich to describe exactly how I feel.

One thing to note there has been never a new innovation or technology from hindi/tamil/telugu/whatever speaking Indians in the latest technology. If we had the capapbility to find something pathbreaking maybe we can start by naming it in Indian words(I dont think Chandra x-ray observatory counts). But then there are not many tech words available in Indian languages. As a matter of fact I know there was a Tamil consortium formed by writer Sujata to find words for latest technology like web/internet/bits/bytes/terabyte. Some of the new tamil words invented are funny. So unless someone in India discover something pathbreaking and lead the way to technological innvoations it is not gonna happen. Especially everyone working for microsoft and google are only going to get their patents licensed by multinational companies.