Ret samadhi

For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Nilanjana S Roy has authored three novels, The Wildings, The Hundred Names of Darkness and this year's Black River, but it is The Girl Who Ate Books, her collection of essays on reading, which told me we would have much to talk about if we ever met. The hunch was right—as a columnist of books at the Financial Times' We have this conversation as she begins to leave the Bangla Academy on the penultimate day of the Dhaka Lit Fest. She had said something in her session on 'Culture Wars' a day earlier which struck me—how Books pages are (incorrectly) expected to be the "unpolitical" part of a newspaper. Could we talk about it? She suggests we take a walk. "In India and in the UK, the moment people started to realise that Books pages are the 'ideas' pages, they started to be passed back to male editors. And then again you have to fight for your space", she says as soon as I bring the issue up. We delve deeper: "What you're doing with a Books page is creating a running history of the ideas and the parallel history or the imagination of a country. You're not looking to question and knock the book out of attention as much as you're trying to say, What kind of creature is this? Of what family? What tradition? How do you make those choices? "Your own opinion doesn't matter. If you're reading a book with a certain sense of disgust or discomfort—the latter is fascinating, because why is a writer making you so uncomfortab...

Express News Service IN May this year, Indian novelist and writer Geetanjali Shree made literary history. Her Hindi novel Ret Samadhi—translated into English as Tomb of Sand by American translator Daisy Rockwell—won the 2022 International Booker Prize. Though Shree’s fifth novel—her other works are Mai, Tirohit, Hamara Shahar Us Baras, and Khali Jagah—this is the first book originally written in an Indian language to receive the prestigious honour. In an attempt to celebrate this achievement that Shree believes is “a great moment for Hindi and other South Asian languages”, city-based Teamwork Arts—a production company that curates the Jaipur Literature Festival—and ILF Samanvay—India Habitat Centre’s (IHC) Indian language festival—organised a talk with the 65-year-old writer at the Stein Auditorium, IHC, on Tuesday evening. At the event, Shree was in conversation with journalist and writer Poonam Saxena. The kaleidoscopic nature of literature Set in North India, Ret Samadhi is a family saga that sheds light on the life of an 80-year-old woman who travels to Pakistan in an attempt to revisit and resolve the emotional trauma of the experiences of Partition. In the process, the reader sees her reassess her various roles—she unravels what it means to be a mother, a daughter, and a woman. By following the journey of this octogenarian, Shree also highlights the fact that life is meant to be celebrated till one’s last breath. “We have enough evidence that life is to be enjoyed un...

“Anything worth doing transcends borders,” writes Indian author Ret Samadhi. Delhi-based Geetanjali Shree on Thursday, 26 May, became the first Indian writer to win the International Booker Prize. Her novel Ret Samadhi, translated into English as Tomb of Sand by Daisy Rockwell, is the first Hindi-language book to be shortlisted for the prestigious award. Set in northern India, Tomb of Sand chronicles the journey of an 80-year-old woman, who after her husband’s death, slips into depression. During the course of the novel, the woman decides to visit Pakistan to confront the past that she left behind during the Partition. Here's how several authors and critics have welcomed the 'ground-breaking' book. “Shree’s work captures these swirls of voices and shifts of tone that the reader interprets at her own peril – there is no straightforward linearity of narration nor a careful delineation of family position, powers, events. Rather, there is just the flux of family as it tangles or ruptures or multiplies amorphously. For those who may feel disoriented at the lack of a clear plot in the novel, one requests patience.” Shree manages to capture love, loss, and bereavement with both distance and intimacy, empathy and a (rightfully) cultivated alienation, he says. “Tomb of Sand captures this whirling beat of life as it equivocates between death and exuberance. Notwithstanding the ephemera the work so appealingly captures, the novel itself promises to endure,” said Govind. “Tomb of Sand...

• move Hrithik soaks in “vitamin D’hoop”, leaves us swooning! The actor drops fitness inspiration with an exercise photo • travel Foodies, do you know what is Monami’s favourite Korean food? Foodies, do you know what is Monami’s favourite Korean food? • watch After 14 years, Carl and Dug are back with a bang! Disney dropped a trailer of a new short, where the old man seeks dating advice from his dog • attend Imagine a queer-friendly hangout that has free entry and 2:1 on drinks… Tavern by Trincas is introducing Pink Social Thursdays from this week • shop It’s time for a sari-haul from Exotic India Art’s latest collection There is nothing called having too many saris, trust us! Published 16.03.22, 05:39 AM The longlist for the International Booker Prize was announced recently and readers in India have much to celebrate as Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, has now made history by becoming the first ever Hindi novel to have made it to the prestigious list. Originally titled Ret Samadhi, the work has been translated to English by US-based artist, writer and translator, Daisy Rockwell. Published by Penguin, Tomb of Sand unfolds against a compelling premise, which is at once both relatable and yet unique to the story. After an 80-year old Indian woman emerges from the throes of depression following her husband’s demise, she becomes determined to regain control of her life. This new-found zeal confuses her daughter, who is unaccustomed to this version of her mother (Ma), and does...

About the book I read the following on the booker prize website about the book and found it the most apt short note on Tomb of Sand. “ An urgent yet engaging protest against the destructive impact of borders, whether between religions, countries or genders.” “In northern India, an eighty-year-old woman slips into a deep depression at the death of her husband, then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. Her determination to fly in the face of convention – including striking up a friendship with a hijra person – confuses her bohemian daughter, who is used to thinking of herself as the more ‘modern’ of the two. To her family’s consternation, Ma insists on traveling to Pakistan, simultaneously confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of Partition, and re-evaluating what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, a feminist. ” It will be inspiring to see how Geetanjali Shree could share a tale on so many complex topics. The partition of India and Pakistan, feminism, friendship with a transgender, the man-made borders on land and, of religions. It’s been a long I have read any book in Hindi (except the Hindi comics reading spree I am on). Ret Samadhi is good to re-start my Hindi reading. Amul again did a marvelous job with their staple cartoon

New Delhi – Senior writer Geetanjali Shree’s novel ‘Ret Samadhi’ has attracted the attention of the entire world towards Hindi literature by registering its name in the longlist of International Booker Prize 2022. This is an unprecedented phenomenon, which has opened new avenues for Hindi and other South Asian languages at a global level. These views came out at an event organized by India’s leading publishing house Rajkamal Prakashan, to celebrate the success of ‘Ret Samadhi’ in which prominent literary figure of the country came together to raise a toast. Eminent writers and thinkers such as Ashok Vajpeyi, Harish Trivedi, Purushottam Agarwal, Virendra Yadav, Vandana Rag spoke eloquently about the book and the ripples it has created in the literary sphere. Ret Samadhi has been published by Rajkamal Prakashan in Hindi, whose English translation has been included in the long list of International Booker Prize. This is the first book in Hindi that has been included in the list of this prestigious award. To commemorate this historic occasion, Rajkamal Prakashan organized a function in the Rose Garden of India International Centre on Sunday in which many eminent litterateurs and literary enthusiasts attended. The event began with Syeda Hamid reading the excerpts from the novel. The International Booker Prize is awarded annually to a book translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. The English translation of ‘Ret Samadhi’ published by Rajkamal Prakashan is title...