Geetanjali Shree is an Indian novelist and short-story author who’s well-known for her Hindi-language novel ‘Ret Samadhi’ (2018), which was translated into English as ‘Tomb of Sand’ by Daisy Rockwell. Shree rose to prominence in 2022 when ‘Tomb of Sand’ received the celebrated Worldwide Booker Prize.
Wiki/Biography
Geetanjali Pandey was born on Wednesday, 12 June 1957 (age 65 years; as of 2022) in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, India. Her household hails from Ghazipur District, Gondaur village, Uttar Pradesh. Her zodiac signal is Gemini. Shree spent her childhood in numerous cities in Uttar Pradesh, as her civil servant father was usually transferred. Shree did her education within the native English-medium colleges of UP, however her Hindi talking family within the backdrop of UP saturated her within the Hindi Language. Geetanjali Shree was a voracious reader since childhood, and he or she grew up studying varied Hindi novels like Panchatantra, Chandamama, Parag, and Nandan. Interplay with prolific Hindi and Urdu writers like Sumitranandan Pant, Firaq Gorakhpuri, and Mahadevi Verma whereas rising up in Allahabad developed Shree’s curiosity in Hindi literature. Moreover, Shree was buddies with Munshi Premchand’s granddaughter; Premchand was a celebrated Indian author who is thought for his contribution to Hindi literature. Whereas recalling Premchand’s family in an interview, she mentioned,
My very shut friendship with Munshi Premchand’s granddaughter and shut hyperlinks from my childhood on together with her total household, I feel, performed a really optimistic function in sensitising me to ‘tradition’. Theirs was a family filled with practitioners and learners of Indian music and literature.”
Her obsession with Premchand’s works later served as her thesis matter for acquiring a PhD. She moved to Dehli to pursue her greater training. Regardless of being intrigued by Hindi literature from the start, she opted for Historical past as a result of absence of formal programs in Hindi. She pursued a Bachelor of Arts at Girl Shri Ram School For Ladies, College of Delhi, New Delhi. Thereafter, she enrolled herself in Jawaharlal Nehru College, New Delhi, the place she pursued a Grasp of Arts in Fashionable Indian Historical past. She obtained her PhD diploma in 1984, writing her thesis on the subject ‘Social and Mental Developments in Colonial India: A Examine of Premchand’. She transformed the compilation of her analysis work about Premchand’s literary works right into a ebook, which marked her starting as a author.
Bodily Look
Peak (approx.): 5′ 5″
Hair Color: Salt & Pepper
Eye Color: Darkish Brown
Household & Caste
Geetanjali Shree belongs to a Brahmin Hindu household.
Mother and father & Siblings
Her father, Anirudh Pandey, was a civil servant. Her mom’s title is Shree Kumari Pandey. She has two sisters, Jayanti Pandey and Gayatri Shukla, and two brothers, Gyanendra Pandey and Shailendra Pandey.
From left to proper Shree Kumari Pandey, Jayanti Pandey, and Anirudh Pandey
Geetanjali Shree’s brother and sister Jayanti Pandey
Geetanjali together with her mom, Shree Kumari Pandey, and sisters
Husband & Youngsters
Geetanjali Shree is married. Not a lot is thought about her husband and youngsters.
Profession
Writing
After finishing her formal training, she began instructing Historical past at Jamia Millia Islamia and Zakir Husain School in New Delhi. Thereafter, she began delivering Historical past lectures in English, in the meantime writing her novels in Hindi, however oscillating between the 2 languages left her annoyed. Quickly after, she resigned from her instructing job as her husband supported her choice to turn out to be a full-time author. She launched into Hindi literature with quick tales and wrote her first story whereas travelling on a practice together with her husband. Whereas speaking about the identical in an interview, she mentioned,
I used to be taking a practice journey with my husband and requested myself what had I written thus far if I need to be an writer. With that dilemma, I wrote my first ever story on that practice itself. When my husband learn the story, he mentioned it didn’t appear the author was penning a narrative for the primary time. That’s how the journey started.”
A number one Hindi publishing home named Rajkamal, which Sheela Sandhu then headed, kickstarted Shree’s profession within the Eighties. Her first quick story ‘Bel Patra’ was featured within the prestigious Hindi-language journal Hans in 1987. She revealed her first assortment of quick tales titled ‘Anugoonj’ in 1991. In 2001, she got here into the highlight when her debut novel, Mai, was shortlisted for the Crossword E-book Award. The novel provides a glimpse into the life and consciousness of Mai (the mom) in a North Indian middle-class household as seen by way of the eyes of her daughter.
Nita Kumar, who translated the novel into English, earned a Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize for it. Mai was additionally translated into quite a few different languages together with Serbian, Urdu, French, German, and Korean. Shree’s second novel, Hamara Shahar Us Baras, narrates the occasions which occurred within the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. Different acclaimed novels penned by her embrace Tirohit’ (2001) and Khālī jagah (2006).
Khālī jagah (2006)
Khālī jagah was translated into English as The Empty House (2011) and into French as Une place vide (2018). She rose to recognition together with her 2018 novel ‘Ret Samadhi,’ which humorously depicts the story of an 80-year-old Indian girl who is popping right into a defiant teen daily and insists on occurring a journey to Pakistan after the demise of her husband.
Ret Samadhi (2018)
Ret Samadhi’s translation into English as ‘Tomb of Sand’ by Daisy Rockwell led to Shree’s worldwide recognition. On 26 April 2022, Tomb of Sand grew to become the primary Indian ebook to win the Worldwide Booker Prize. The author translator duo obtained a literary prize of fifty,000 kilos, which they cut up evenly.
Different literary works underneath her belt embrace Agyey Kahani Sanchayan, Vairagya, and The Roof Beneath Their Toes. Other than novels, Shree has additionally written varied educational publications like “Premchand and Industrialism: A Examine in Attitudinal Ambivalence”, featured within the journal The Indian Financial and Social Historical past in 1982, “Premchand and the Peasantry: Constrained Radicalism,” featured within the journal Financial and Political Weekly in 1983, and “The North Indian Intelligentsia and the Hindu-Muslim Query,” featured within the Journal of Regional Historical past 1993.
Theatre
Since 1989, Shree has additionally been actively related to the cultural theatre group known as Vivadi. She tailored Rabindranath Tagore’s novel Gora right into a theatrical manufacturing. Her theatrical adaptation of Tagore’s novel ‘Ghare Baire’ was staged on the Kamani Auditorium in New Delhi. Shree can also be recognized for adapting the Chinese language play Lao Jiu: The Ninth Born by Kuo Pao Kun right into a Hindi theatrical manufacturing titled ‘Navlakha’. The play was staged on the New Nationwide Theatre, Tokyo, as a part of a competition that staged three totally different performs of Kuo Pao Kun by teams from Japan, India and Indonesia. Not solely did the Japanese viewers enthusiastically reply to Shree’s adaptation, Kuo Pao Kun himself preferred the transcreation. She penned the performs, Nayika Bheda, which was staged on the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, and Sundari, the story of a male actor Jaishankar Sundari from Gujarat who was recognized for taking part in the feminine lead. One among her most profitable diversifications is Mirza Hadi Ruswa’s ‘Umrao Jan Ada,’ an Urdu traditional novel which narrates the lifetime of a courtesan. Turing over the male imaginative and prescient of the novel’s authentic textual content, Shree tried to present a radical feminist studying of the textual content. The play was first staged on the Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, New Delhi, in December 1993. Immensely in style, the play was later offered in varied cities in India together with Bombay and Kolkata. Moreover, it was additionally filmed to telecast on TV. An English adaptation of Shree’s ‘Umrao Jaan Ada’ was carried out by a gaggle known as Rasik Arts at Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- Indu Sharma Worldwide Katha Samman
- Krishna Baldev Vaid Sammaan (2014)
- Hindi Akademi Sahityakar Samman
- Worldwide Booker Prize (2022)
Favourites
- E-book(s): The Mahabharata, Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian, Maila Anchal by Phanishwar Nath Renu, Issues Fall Aside by Chinua Achebe, Basti by Intizar Hussain, Gora by Rabindranath Tagore
- Singer(s): Mallikarjun Mansur, Amir Khan
- Author(s): Krishna Sobti, Nirmal Verma, Intizar Hussain, Krishna Baldev Vaid, Shrilal Shukla, Vinod Kumar Shukla
Info/Trivia
- Geetanjali Pandey modified her title to Geetanjali Shree, taking the primary title of her mom as her final title.
- In addition to pursuing his authorities job, Shree’s father additionally did writing. He needed Shree to turn out to be an IAS officer. He didn’t assist Shree’s choice to pursue a profession as a Hindi writer. He was of the opinion {that a} affluent future lies solely in English writing. Whereas speaking about the identical in an interview, Shree mentioned,
My father was of the opinion that I’ll break my life if I wrote in Hindi. He would say that the longer term belongs to English…I studied in English medium however my mom spoke Hindi and that language was my mom tongue. It was the post-freedom period and other people of the nation felt love in direction of their very own language. Throughout that point, we even bought to listen to many Hindi fiction writers.”
- She is a fan of classic Bollywood music.
- In an interview, whereas itemizing the big variety of literary works that she has learn over time, she mentioned,
Studying was a serious pastime. Very haphazard although it was. A lot of the Russian greats, the Victorian ladies greats, French classics, an odd Knut Hamson right here, a Max Havelaar there, later Calvino, Kafka, Kundera, Latin American literature, Japanese literature, Indian writers of Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, and Hindi writers upto my very own instances, like Krishna Sobti, Nirmal Verma, Shrilal Shukla, Vinod Kumar Shukla, and many others..”
- In an interview, she revealed that she by no means learnt artistic writing. She mentioned,
No, I didn’t study artistic writing!…Like an Indian! I study on the job! And get higher and higher!”
- In an interview, she revealed that she has an unfinished ebook titled ‘The Title of the Rose.’
