With Booker Prize winner Shashi Tharoor raises “Strawberry Toast”, Pics inside

• Image Credit: Internet

• Jun 13, 2022 | Dhupali Das

Shree and Tharoor were in London for the Jaipur Literature Festival.

Digital Desk: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor posted a photo with novelist Geetanjali Shree, who received the International Booker Prize for Ret Samadhi  (A Tomb of Sand) this year.  Shree and Tharoor were in London for the Jaipur Literature Festival.

“Toasting birthday girl novelist Geetanjali Shree with a strawberry in London last night as @JLFLitfest comes to a celebratory end,” tweeted the Congress MP. 

The British Library in London hosted the 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival from June 10 to June 12.

Ret Samadhi, the first Indian language book to receive the International Booker Prize, is set in northern India and depicts an 80-year-old woman. The jury describes the story as a “joyous cacophony” and an “irresistible novel”. In 2018, Ret Samadhi was published. 

“I never dreamed of the Booker; I never imagined I could. What a great honour; I’m astonished, overjoyed, honoured, and humbled,” Geetanjali Shree said during her acceptance speech. 

“The award conferring it has a bittersweet satisfaction to it. ‘Ret Samadhi/Tomb of Sand’ is an ode for the world we live in, lasting energy that maintains optimism despite an imminent disaster.” she added. 

Geetanjali Shree, speaking about a book written in Hindi that made the cut for the first time, said, “But there is a rich and thriving literary legacy in Hindi and other South Asian languages behind me and this book. Knowing some of the best writers in these languages can enrich world literature. As a result of this contact, one’s life vocabulary will grow.”

Geetanjali Shree was also awarded a GBP 50,000 (approximately Rs. 4.7 crores). She shared it with Daisy Rockwell, the English translator of the book.