Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy
Name	Arundhati Roy
Caption	Roy in 2011
Birth date	24 November 1961
Birth place	Shillong, Meghalaya, India
Occupation	Author, Activist
Nationality	Indian
Notableworks	The God of Small Things
Awards	Booker Prize (1997), National Film Award for Best Screenplay (1989)

Arundhati Roy is an Indian author, essayist, and political activist best known for her novel The God of Small Things, which won the Booker Prize in 1997. Her literary acclaim is matched by her prominent and often controversial role as a critic of neoliberalism, India's nuclear weapons program, Hindu nationalism, and major infrastructure projects like the Narmada Dam. Roy's work spans fiction, non-fiction essays, and screenplays, establishing her as a significant voice on issues of social justice, environmentalism, and anti-imperialism.

Early Life and Education

Born in Shillong, Meghalaya, to a Keralite Syrian Christian mother and a Bengali Hindu father, she spent much of her childhood in Aymanam, Kerala. She attended Corpus Christi School in Kottayam before moving to Delhi at age 16. She studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi, an experience that later informed her critiques of urban planning and displacement.

Career

Roy initially worked in the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and later in Delhi, taking on various jobs, including as an artist. Her career in writing began with screenplays for films like In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones (1989), for which she won a National Film Award for Best Screenplay. She also wrote the screenplay for the film Electric Moon (1992). Her transition to full-time writing and activism was cemented by the global success of her novel and her subsequent non-fiction work.

Literary Works

Her debut novel, The God of Small Things (1997), a semi-autobiographical story set in Kerala, won the Booker Prize and became an international bestseller. After a long hiatus from fiction, she published her second novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017), which weaves together narratives from across India and Kashmir. Her non-fiction comprises numerous essay collections, including The Algebra of Infinite Justice (2002), Listening to Grasshoppers (2009), and Azadi (2020), which critique US foreign policy, the BJP government, and the situation in Kashmir.

Activism and Politics

Roy is a high-profile activist aligned with various anti-globalization and environmental movements. She has been a vocal opponent of the Narmada Dam project, the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement, and the 2002 Gujarat riots. Her essays often address the conflicts in Kashmir and Central India, criticizing the actions of the Indian Army and supporting the cause of Kashmiri separatism. She has faced legal challenges, including a conviction for contempt of court in 2002 related to the Narmada River dispute, and more recent scrutiny under India's sedition laws.

Awards and Recognition

Beyond the Booker Prize, Roy has received the Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize (2002) and the Sydney Peace Prize (2004) for her activism. She was awarded the Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing in 2011. However, she has also declined awards, such as the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005, in protest against government policies. Her work has been translated into dozens of languages worldwide.

Personal Life

She was married to filmmaker Pradip Krishen in 1984, and they collaborated on several projects before divorcing. Roy lives in Delhi and maintains a relatively private life, though she is a frequent speaker at international forums like the World Social Forum. Her sister-in-law is the renowned classical musician Shubha Mudgal.

Category:Indian novelists Category:Indian activists Category:Booker Prize winners Category:1961 births Category:Living people