Suzanna Arundhati Roy http://website.lineone.net/~jon.simmons/roy/tgost2.htm (Malayalam: അര�ന�ധതി റോയ�, Bengali: অর�ন�ধতী রায় Orundhoti Rae, Hindi: अर�ंधती राय Arundhatī R�y) (born November 24, 1961) is an Indian novelist, activist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her first novel The God of Small Things, and in 2002, the Lannan Cultural Freedom PrizeSee, [1].

Arundhati Roy, speaking, in New York City at the Riverside church, on May 2003.

Roy was born in Assam to a Keralite Syrian Christian mother, the women's rights activist Mary Roy, and a Bengali Hindu father, a tea planter by profession. She spent her childhood in Aymanam in Kerala, and went to school in Corpus Christi. She then studied architecture at the Delhi School of Architecture, where she met her first husband, architect Gerard Da Cunha.

Roy lives in New Delhi.

Art

Roy met her second husband, filmmaker Pradip Krishen, in 1984, and became involved in film-making under his influence. She played a village girl in the award-winning movie Massey Sahib, and wrote the screenplays for In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones and Electric Moon. She also wrote the screenplay for The 'Banyan Tree', a television serial.

Roy began writing The God of Small Things in 1992 and finished it in 1996. She received half a million pounds as an advance, and rights to the book were sold in 21 countries. The book is semi-autobiographical and a major part captures her childhood experiences in Aymanam.

Contrary to some assumptions, Roy is not one of twins. This misinformation arose from the assumption that the character of Rahel is based on herself. We see this in the physical description of the character in her adulthood and also by some of this character's interactions with her mother, Ammu ^{[citation needed]}.

Arundhati Roy is the cousin of the famous media personality Prannoy Royhttp://www.rediff.com/news/oct/15mary.htm.

Literary Works

Books

• The God of Small Things, 1997: Booker prize winning novel
• The Greater Common Good, 1999
• The Algebra of Infinite Justice, 2001
• An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire, 2004
• The End of Imagination, 1998
• The Cost of Living, 1999
• Power Politics, 2002
• War Talk, 2003

Essays and Articles

• Insult and Injury in Afghanistan (MSNBC, 20 Oct 2001)
• War is Peace (Outlook, 29 Oct 01)
• Stop bombing Afghanistan

Activism

The God of Small Things is the only novel written by Roy. Since winning the Booker Prize, she has concentrated her writing on political issues. These include the Narmada Dam project, India's nuclear weapons and power company Enron's activities in India. She is a figure-head of the anti-globalization/alter-globalization movement and a vehement critic of neo-imperialism. She is also a critic of industrialization and development.

In response to India's testing of nuclear weapons in Pokhran, Rajasthan, Roy wrote The End of Imagination, a critique of the Indian government's nuclear policies. It was published in her collection The Cost of Living, in which she also crusaded against India's massive hydroelectric dam projects in the central and western states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. She has since devoted herself solely to nonfiction and politics, publishing two more collections of essays, as well as working for social causes.

In June 2005 she took part in the World Tribunal on Iraq.

In August 2006, Roy signed a letter written by Professor Steve Trevillion calling Israel's attacks on Lebanon a "war crime", and accused Israel of "state terror". War crimes and Lebanon (Thursday August 3, 2006).

Criticism

Accusations of Anti-India bias

Roy has accused India of amassing 7,00,000 troops in the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir [2]. Her book entitled "The Algebra of Infinite Justice�, is critical of Indian control in Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur [3]. Many times it is indicated from her statements that she does not have any faith in Indian Judiciary and law; to cite an example, she defended parliamentary bomb accused Afzal by saying that his case is full of false evidence and fabricated stories [4]. She believes that there is no democracy in India and surprisingly she says this to an audience in New York [5].Roy has also been criticized for fabricating statements concerning the 2002 Gujarat Violence and of anti-Hindu bias by BJP Member of Parliament Balbir Punj, who brought detailed counter-arguments to many of her assertions regarding the actions of Hindu rioters[6].

Arundhati Roy's anti-Narmada Dam stance has led to accusations of her being anti-Gujarati [7]. She has frequently^{[citation needed]} stated along with another anti-dam activist, Medha Patkar, that the dam would only help the wealthy^{[citation needed]} land-owners of Gujarat. Her statements have been criticised by supporters of the Narmada dam project who argue that many poor peasants will be helped by the dam, providing potable water for irrigation and drinking.

Criticism of Intellectual integrity

Jagdish Bhagwati, a renowed economist and free trade advocate at Columbia University criticised Arundhathi Roy for her arguments against globalization. He is reported to have said she should stick to her amazing skill as a novelist only [8]

Accusations of Anti-Americanism

Roy has been criticized as being Anti-American, to which she has replied she is in fact only anti-evil. Testimony by well-known conservative and editor of the National Review, Stanley Kurtz, before the House Subcommittee on Select Education stated:

The Columbia Journalism Review cited Arundhati Roy, for example, as a prime example of an "anti-American" writer. Liberal author Ian Buruma, writing in The New Republic, published a review of Roy’s work entitled, "The Anti-American." (Roy’s title-essay from the book reviewed by Buruma was assigned in the U. C. Santa Barbara course.) Author Todd Gitlin, in the magazine Mother Jones, called Arundhati Roy "anti-American."levi61903/kurtz.htm" rel="nofollow">[9]:

Roy criticized US President George Bush's trip to India in March 2006 [10].

Awards

Arundhati Roy was awarded the 1997 Booker Prize for her ficition The God of Small Things. The Booker award [11] carried $1million USD. God of Small Things, received glowing reviews including the following from John Updike of The_New_York_Times, [12]

The God of Small Things, cover

In 2002, she won the Lannan Foundation's Cultural Freedom Award for her work "about civil societies that are adversely affected by the world’s most powerful governments and corporations" and "to celebrate her life and her ongoing work in the struggle for freedom, justice and cultural diversity." http://www.lannan.org/lf/cf/detail/2002-prize-for-cultural-freedom-roy/

Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in May 2004 for her work in social campaigns and advocacy of non-violence.

In January 2006 she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award for her collection of essays on contemporary issues, "The Algebra of Infinite Justice", but declined to accept it.

Controversies

Arundhati Roy has been no stranger to controversy, from her mother's campaigning through to her own article on Shekar Kapur's celebrated film 'Bandit Queen', about Phoolan Devi, in which Roy charged Kapur with exploiting Devi and misrepresenting both her life and its meaning. That ended with a court case, and her giving up the world of film^{[citation needed]}.

1. The God of Small Things Debate In England, Channel 4's coverage of the Booker included a round-table debate by literary 'stars' Melvyn Bragg, A. S. Byatt, Will Self, and Carmen Callil. Callil (the previous year's chair of the Booker judges) pronounced The God of Small Things "an execrable book" which should never have reached the shortlist ^{[citation needed]}.
2. Contempt of CourtIn 2002, Roy was convicted of contempt of court by the Supreme Court in New Delhi for accusing the court of attempting to silence protests against the Narmada Dam Project. In its judgement, the Supreme Court Of India noted "we feel that the ends of justice would be met if she is sentenced to symbolic imprisonment besides paying a fine of Rs.2000/-. #While convicting the respondent for the contempt of the Court, we sentence her to simple imprisonment for one day and to pay a fine of Rs.2,000/-. In case of default in the payment of fine, the respondent shall undergo simple imprisonment for three months."http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/qrydisp.asp?tfnm=18299
3. Arundhati Roy after undergoing one day of prison sentence, paid the fine. http://www.narmada.org/sc.contempt/aroy.stmt.mar7.2002.html
4. Encroachment Case In 2003 Arundhati Roy and her spouse were accused of building their house in a protected Forest area [13].

References

• Supreme Court Judgement
• Ms.Roy's Explanation
• [14]

Bibliography

• Roy, Arundhati; (2004). An Ordinary Person's Guide To Empire, Consortium Book Sales and Dist, September 15, 2004, hardcover, ISBN 0-89608-728-X; trade paperback, Consortium, September 15, 2004, ISBN 0-89608-727-1
• Roy, Arundhati; (2004). Public Power in the Age of Empire. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-682-6.
• Roy, Arundhati; (2004). The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile: Conversations with Arundhati Roy. South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-710-7.
• Roy, Arundhati; (2003). War Talk. South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-724-7.
• Foreword to For Reasons of State (2003) ISBN 1-56584-794-6 by Noam Chomsky
• Roy, Arundhati; (2002). Power Politics. South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-668-2.
• Roy, Arundhati; (2002). The Algebra of Infinite Justice. Flamingo. ISBN 0-00-714949-2. (a collection of essays: The End of Imagination, The Greater Common Good, Power Politics [also a book], The Ladies Have Feelings, So..., The Algebra of Inifinite Justice, War is Peace, Democracy, War Talk [also a book] and Come September.)
• The Cost of Living (1999), which contains the essays 'The greater common good' and 'The end of imagination', which are now included in the book 'The Algebra of Infinite Justice'
• Roy, Arundhati; (1997). The God of Small Things. Flamingo. ISBN 0-00-655068-1.

more...

See also

• Anti-globalization movement
• Narmada Dam Project
• List of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction
• Indian English literature

External links

• 'We' The Unauthorised Arundhati Roy Musical Documentary (watch & download free or order DVD by donation) This is the original version without additions. If you want a version with additional material that has been produced in the USA, see weroy.org below.
• weroy.org - Arundhati Roy documentary
• Literary Encyclopedia (in-progress)
• SAWNET biography
• Bibliography
• Research on Arundhati Roy, Bibliographical Information
• Come September Transcript of speech on 18 September 2002 and conversation with Howard Zinn
• Archive of Arundhati Roy on Democracy Now!
• `We have to become the global resistance' (Abriged version of speech given at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, 16. January 2004)
• Tide? or Ivory Snow? Public Power in the Age of Empire (August 16th, 2004 speech in San Francisco)
• ABC Radio National transcript of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture (with audio) or download the speech here
• The Most Cowardly War in History (Article dated 24 June 2005)
• Complete Collection of Her Essays and Speeches (in-progress)
• Calcutta Telegraph on house / forest controversy
• Let's talk, Ms. Roy on kashmir
• [15],Critique of Roy by Exile literary savant John Dolan
• Arundhati Roy denounces Indian democracy by Atul Cowshish

• Arundhati Roy videos on YouTube YouTube Videos.ca:Arundhati Roy

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia