Arundhati Roy was born in 1961 in Bengal and grew up in Kerala. She trained
as an architect at the Delhi School of Architecture, but became better known
for her complex, scathing film scripts. She wrote and starred in In Which
Annie Gives it Those Ones, and also wrote the script for Pradip Kishen's Electric
Moon. Media attention came when she spoke out in support of Phoolan Devi,
who she felt had been exploited by Shekhar Kapur's film Bandit Queen.
After the
controversy escalated into a court case, she started work on her first book,
The God of Small Things, which was published
in 1997. As the daughter of Mary Roy, the woman whose court case changed the
inheritance laws in favor of women, she is closely acquainted with the
Syrian Christian traditions that feature prominently in the book.
She says "a feminist is a woman who negotiates herself into a position where
she has choices.."
The God of Small Things won the Booker in 1997. Although Indian authors such as Salman Rushdie and
Rohinton Mistry have featured in the Booker shortlist, and Rushdie's
Midnight's Children won the 'Booker of Bookers', Roy is the first
non-expatriate Indian author and the first Indian woman to win this prize.
This happened in 1997, India's 50th anniversary of independence from
Britain. As always, the exclusions and choices of the Booker judges created
some controversy, with some critics praising the lush imagery of Roy's book
while others referred to it as 'tripe'. The book has also attracted a
lawsuit and angry criticism from Kerala's leftists.
In keeping with her longtime interest in social issues, she has immersed
herself in causes such as the anti-nuclear movement and the Narmada Bachao
Andolan. Her two major essays, The End of Imagination and The Greater Common
Good, are available online as well as in print. Her personal fame has drawn
attention and donations to these causes, and she also has made significant
monetary contributions.
Arundhati Roy currently lives in New Dehli.
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