India's Aravind Adiga was the toast of the literary world Wednesday after he won the prestigious Man Booker Prize at a glittering ceremony in London for his debut novel "The White Tiger", set against the backdrop of India's growing wealth gap.
The 33-year-old former journalist, who defied odds and beat hot favourite Sebastian Barry, took home the 50,000-pound ($47,000) prize -- becoming the third debutant to win the award in its 40-year-history and the fifth Indian-origin author to win the prize.
His book - which judges felt "shocked and entertained in equal measure" - is the story of Balram Halwai, a village boy who becomes an entrepreneur through villainous means.
Adiga's novel, aimed to highlight the needs of India's poor, was described by one reviewer as an "unadorned portrait" of India seen "from the bottom of the heap".
As accolades poured in thick and fast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too congratulated Adiga: “I join the people of this country in celebrating this international recognition of your literary accomplishment."
The Mumbai-based author had been given odds of 7/1 before the ceremony by bookmakers William Hill. Irish writer Barry had been tipped to take the prize at 7/4. The bookmakers' favourite has not won since Yann Martel in 2002 for "Life of Pi".
Born in Chennai and raised partly in Australia, Adiga, who always wanted to be a novelist since he was a boy, studied at Columbia and Oxford Universities and was a former correspondent for TIME magazine in India based out of Delhi.
Adiga, who beat off competition from five other authors, including fellow Indian Amitav Ghosh, nominated for his "Sea of Poppies", dedicated the prize to New Delhi where he has lived for many years.
"It's a city that I love and a city that's going to determine India's future and the future of a large part of the world. It's a book about Delhi, so I dedicate it to the people that made it happen," he said.
"It is a fact that for most of the poor people in India there are only two ways to go up - either through crime or through politics, which can be a variant of crime," Adiga told the BBC.
"These people at the bottom have the same aspirations as the middle class - to make it in life, to become businessmen, to create business empires. They need to be given their legitimate needs - the schooling, the education, the health care - to achieve those dreams. If not, as I said, there are only two ways up: crime or politics."
Back home, his alma mater St. Aloysius High School in Karnataka's coastal city of Mangalore, where he was a top-ranking student, invited him on Oct 18.
"We are extremely happy. We congratulated him Wednesday morning as soon we learnt he has been chosen for the award. We hope he will make it to the Oct 18 meeting so that we can honour him," Fr. Denzil Lobo, a former Aloysian who now teaches there, told IANS on telephone from Mangalore.
"He was a quiet student. Well disciplined and among the best in his class," recalled Sambu Shetty, who was assistant head master of the school when Adiga was a high school student in the late 1980s.
Students and teachers at the James Ruse Agricultural High in north-west Sydney, Adiga's other alma mater, also celebrated.
"We are very proud of Adiga's wonderful achievement. It is amazing for someone so young at 34 to receive one of the highest awards in literature. It reinforces the view of our school as a wonderful place of learning," James Ruse principal Larissa Treskin said.
Adiga joined James Ruse school in 1992 half way through Class 10 and topped the New South Wales (NSW) state in the Class 12 ancient history exam.
Lipika Bhushan, marketing manager of Harper Collins Publishers, said there would be a grand welcome for Adiga in Delhi.
“He will be going to the Frankfurt book fair and then come back to Delhi,” she said.
The other shortlisted authors were Amitav Ghosh ("Sea of Poppies"), Steve Toltz of Australia ("A Fraction of the Whole"), Sebastian Barry of Ireland ("The Secret Scripture"), and British writers Linda Grant and Philip Hensher ("The Clothes on Their Backs" and "The Northern Clemency" respectively).
Indian origin authors to win the Booker Prize before him are V.S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai.
Students and teachers at James Ruse Agricultural High in north-west Sydney, the alma mater of Indian-Australian author Aravind Adiga, Wednesday celebrated his Man Booker Prize win.
"We are very proud of Adiga's wonderful achievement. It is amazing for someone so young at 34 to receive one of the highest awards in literature. It reinforces the view of our school as a wonderful place of learning," James Ruse principal Larissa Treskin told IANS.
Adiga, who was born in Chennai on Oct 23, 1974, joined James Ruse school in 1992 half way through Class 10 and topped the New South Wales (NSW) state in the Class 12 ancient history exam.
Teachers fondly remember him as a gifted all-rounder. His English teacher Judith Anderson, who has since retired, was always very proud of Adiga's writing skills.
Anderson, who has read the book, said she wasn't surprised by his success. She remembers him as a student who always stood out from the crowd and showed keen interest in world politics and cultures.
The 850-strength co-educational school is renowned for academic excellence and has been ranked first in the state academic results for the past 12 years.
The students, used to excellence and competing at international Olympiads in various fields, were overjoyed as the news of one of their ex-students making it big on the world stage of literature filtered through the classrooms.
"Adiga has become a great role model for our students. We would love to have him as a speaker at the school's golden jubilee celebrations next year in 2009," Treskin, who has been principal for the past two years, said.
Australian media has been quick to claim Adiga, who lives in Mumbai, as their very own as he has dual Indian and Australian citizenship.
His debut novel, "The White Tiger", was Wednesday out of stock at the Berkelouw Paddington bookstore on Sydney's Oxford Street, but at Borders' flagship store in Bondi Junction the remaining 12 copies were selling fast.
"We have had several enquiries about 'The White Tiger' since Adiga won the 2008 Man Booker Prize. We have sold three copies today and a shipment is on the way as we see the demand for the book increasing in the coming days," a Borders' spokesperson said.
Indo-Asian News Service
“'Taare Zameen Par' is the final choice because it has a universal appeal and it has all the elements that make a good film, in terms of its production value, script, concept and story," filmmaker Sunil Darshan said here Saturday.
Darshan is the chairman of the 10-member jury set up by the Film Federation of India (FFI).
The movie was jointly produced by Aamir Khan Productions and PVR Pictures and starred Darsheel Safary as the protagonist. It it the story of an eight-year-old dyslexic boy and a teacher, played by Aamir, bringing the kid out of his predicament.
READ TAARE ZAMEEN PAR REVIEW
The other Bollywood films in competition were “A Wednesday”, “Rock On”, “Mumbai Meri Jaan”, "Jodhaa Akbar”, “Black & White” - all of which have won critical acclaim. There were also two Marathi films “Tingya” and “Vaalu” and a Telegu film “Gamyam” in contention.
“'Vaalu' has a fantastic screenplay and 'Tingya' has a good and sound script. It is not that other films were bad, but 'Taare Zameen Par' stood out among others,” Darshan added.
Another jury member Mahesh Kothare, a Marathi filmmaker and actor, was all praise for the selected film.
“As a jury, we had two basic intentions - that the chosen film must have a good chance of winning an Oscar and secondly, that it should meet certain parameters for an Oscar. These are content and cinematic excellence.
“'Taare Zameen Par' has it all. It has been made so perfectly. There is perfect direction, animation, screenplay, acting, script, and so there is no reason why it shouldn't have been choosen,” said Kothare.
He also exuded confidence that the film will finally bring India an Oscar in 2009.
Exactly a week after five synchronized terror blasts rattled the national capital and killed 24 people, Delhi Police Saturday said they had cracked the conspiracy behind this and three other terror attacks in the country.
“We have solved the Delhi blast case,” said Karnail Singh, joint commissioner of police (Special Cell).
Singh said a terrorist module of 13 people was responsible for the recent spate of terror attacks in India including the Uttar Pradesh court blasts of last year and the serial bombings in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and New Delhi this year.
He named the 13 members of the module as Atif, Saif, Zeeshan, Shajid, Junaid, Shadab Bhai, Alihas Malik, Shazid, Mohammad Khalif, Arif, Shakeel, Zia Khan and Salman.
All the members of the module were from Azamgarh village in Uttar Pradesh. “Atif lured his fellow and junior students from Azamgarh to terrorism,” the police official said.
Singh said the dreaded Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had been providing the training and support to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Indian Mujahideen, which has claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad and New Delhi attacks.
“When LeT's terrorists were arrested, ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan) had a problem internationally. So their strategy was to train more and more people of Indian origin. So they approached the SIMI and Indian Mujahideen and coordinated with them.
“SIMI provided the money and execution support to the Indian Mujahideen,” he added.
The police said they had seized a laptop from the Jamia Nagar house, where two terrorists were gunned down after a fierce gun battle Friday morning, and found that they were inspired by Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden.
"From whatever information we have got from the seized laptop, it's clear that they were inspired by the philosophy of Al Qaeda. They were inspired by Osama bin Laden.
"We have sent the laptop for forensic analysis. Documents and photographs related to terror activities have been seized. We recovered the photos of Osama Bin Laden and software techie Tauqir's photo from the laptop," Singh added.
Mumbai-based Abdul Subhan Qureshi alias Tauqir has been alleged to have masterminded the Sep 13 serial blasts in the capital that killed 24 people and left nearly 100 injured. He has been absconding.
The police said the militants had brought the bombs from Karnataka before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
"Mohammed Saif and Sajid went to Karnataka and bought 10 bombs to Delhi by train two or three days before the start of Ramadan. But one bomb was detected to be faulty at the last moment and, therefore, was not planted," Sing said in a press briefing.
He, however, said that one live bomb was yet to be recovered.
"They have thrown the faulty bomb in a drain near Batla House (in Jamia Nagar). Then there is a live bomb somewhere near the Regal cinema hall (in Connaught Place) but we haven't recovered them so far," said a senior police official.
Delhi Police had defused one bomb near the same cinema hall Sep 13.
"It was Atif (one of the two terrorists who were killed Friday) who used to send e-mails to various people including media organisations (about the Indian Mujahideen taking responsibility for the blasts). He was the main co-coordinator of sharing information amongst various organisations," Singh added.
The police said they used to roam around the country on fake voter identity cards.
“Saif and Zeeshan had made fake voter ID cards in the name of Rahul Sharma and Pankaj respectively and travelled to Gujarat on the fake identities.
“They also availed mobile phone connections on the basis of these fake ID cards. We have seized mobile phones in which they have clicked the video of the Jaipur blasts,” Singh said.
Explaining the modus operandi of the module Singh said: “All of them travelled to Jaipur May 13 in a bus and bought cycles and planted the bombs on them.”
Then they started preparing for the Ahmedabad blasts. “Eleven to 12 people from Delhi went to Ahmedabad July 10 for a recce. Three to four stayed back and others returned to Delhi on July 17.
“All those who returned went to Ahmedabad on July 23, manufactured and planted bombs with the help of the local supporters, few of whom were arrested in Ahmedabad,” Singh said.
At least 65 people were killed in the serial blasts in Jaipur May 13, while 56 people were killed in the July 26 Ahmedabad blasts.
“In Delhi these terrorists went for a recce Sep 11 and clicked photos of the sites,” Singh added.
Five bombs went off in quick succession in the capital's busy market places Sep 13, killing 24 people and injuring nearly 100 others.
Indo-Asian News Service
At least 60 people, including some foreigners, were killed and about 120 injured in a suicide attack at a luxury hotel in the high security zone around the parliament building here Saturday, even as the country's ruling elite, including the president and the three service chiefs, were attending an Iftar dinner at the Prime Minister House barely a kilometre away.
Orange flames and thick smoke billowed out of the Marriott Hotel, which turned into a blazing inferno as police, ambulances and rescue workers raced to the spot to tend to the injured. The authorities feared that the toll could rise as the blast, caused by an explosives-laden truck crashing into the hotel, left a 20-foot deep crater at its entrance.
There was speculation that the hotel, a landmark building that is the preferred destination of visiting diplomats and businessmen, could collapse.
Twisted and mangled remains of a number of vehicles littered the hotel's car park. The hotel is located near a number of high security buildings, including the Presidential Palace, the Prime Minister House, parliament and the Supreme Court.
"The fire has engulfed the whole hotel and people are being rescued," Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik, who reached the spot after the blast, said.
Initial reports said that a truck loaded with explosives hit the outer wall of the hotel, which soon went up in flames. Security officials said that several people who were residing in the hotel were still trapped inside and efforts were being made to rescue them.
Hospital sources said that they had received about 40 bodies and more than 100 injured. However, eyewitnesses said that the number of dead is more than 60 and more than 120 have been injured.
Police sources said that the dead include three Koreans, two Saudis and one American. Among the injured are some foreigners, including some Americans who were shifted to the hospital inside the US Embassy. Unconfirmed reports also said that a senior US security official was among the injured.
Eyewitnesses said that the explosives-laden truck, bearing government number plates, was stopped at the hotel entrance for a security check.
"As the security people were looking into the truck, it swiftly moved away and hit the outer wall of the hotel, causing a huge explosion," an eyewitness said.
The blast also caused the main gas pipeline outside the hotel to explode, adding to the mayhem. Sources said that at least 300 people were dining in the hotel when the blast took place. Being the fasting month of Ramadan people dine immediately after the sunset, which was at 7.12 p.m. Saturday and the blast took place at 7.56 p.m.
The blast occurred about four hours after President Asif Ali Zardari addressed a joint sitting of both houses of parliament, during which he called for joint efforts to deal with terrorism and extremism.
The impact of the blast was so severe that its reverberations were heard in a 15 kilometre area and many Islamabad residents thought an earthquake had struck. The windows of nearby buildings, including that of Pakistan Television, were shattered.
An emergency was declared in Islamabad hospitals as they braced to receive the injured and the bodies of those killed.
Advisor Malik condemned the attack and said that whoever was behind the blast "can't be friends of Islam or friends of this country".
Lamented Marriott Hotel owner Sadruddin Hashwani: "I don't have any enemies...these must be enemies of Pakistan. This is a huge loss to the country, to humanity," he told reporters outside the building.
President Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the chiefs of the navy and the air force, provincial governors, chief ministers, federal and provincial ministers and more than 300 MPs were attending the dinner at the PM House, official sources said.
National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza was hosting the dinner in honour of the president after his maiden address to a joint sitting of parliament Saturday afternoon. The governors, chief ministers and other high-ranking government officials were invited to hear the president's address.
The sources said that the dignitaries were sitting around tables on the lawns of the PM House after the Iftar and sunset prayers and dinner was being served when the bomb exploded with an ear-splitting sound, shattering windows of the sprawling mansion.
The sources said that immediately efter the blast, security personnel herded the VVIPs who were sitting around the high table into the building, which is about 100 yards from the main lawn. The sources confirmed that all the VVIPs were safe.
An eyewitness said that as crockery came crashing down from the tables, many thought that there was a blast within the PM House.
Security officials feared that the intended destination of the explosives-laden van was the PM House and that it perhaps could not reach there because of the high security that was in place in the capital since morning.
He loves dancing, aspired to become a fast bowler but landed on the tracks to burn them with his lightening speed. Media called him “Bolt from the blue”, “Lightening Bolt” and credited him for being "the tallest world-class sprinter in history” but this triple world record holder shows no attitude and politely terms his comparison with Michael Phelps (eight gold medals wonder) as unfair.
The name is Usain Bolt, the track sensation, who has taken the athletic world by storm with his performances in Beijing Olympics and became one of the two iconic performers in the Olympics, other being swimmer Phelps. Bolt is a 22-years-old Jamaican sprinter He holds the Olympic and world records for the 100 metres at 9.69 seconds, the 200 metres at 19.30 seconds and, along with his team-mates, the 4x100 metres relay at 37.10 seconds.
After watching his performance in 200 metres race, former 200m world record holder Michael Johnson remarked that new world record time was simply incredible. This guy is Superman II.
But, not everyone is praising Bolt for his fantastic efforts; IOC president Jacques Rogge condemned his chest slapping actions as disrespectful to other competitors, while Olympic medallist Kriss Akabusi interpreted his actions before the finish line as showboating, noting that these cost Bolt an even faster record time. Bolt has no intention of changing. Not for Rogge, not for the International Olympic Committee.
Six-foot-five inch long Bolt’s winning efforts in 100 and 200 metres also changed the popular mindset that height is a detriment to sprinting. He has just four-years-old in professional sprinting and has got a bright future to make and break many more world records.
Delhi Blasts: Karol Bagh, CP, G-K 1, Barakhamba road
Four explosions in quick succession shook the capital on Saturday evening.
Police say the first blast, in Karol Bagh, was the result of a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) cylinder explosion while it is still not immediately clear blasts, in Greater Kailash-I and Connaught Place, were terror blasts.
There were two blasts in Greater Kailash-I.
Two people were injured in the first blast in the busy Gaffar market of Karol Bagh in Central Delhi.
The explosion took place in a CNG cylinder in an auto rickshaw in Gaffar Market, the hub of mobile shops. Ambulances and police rushed to the spot.
Other Reports say:
Three explosions in capital, injuries reported
Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, Sep 13 (IANS) Three explosions in quick succession shook the capital Saturday evening. It was not immediately clear if the second and third blasts, in Greater Kailash and Connaught Place, were terror blasts, but the police said the first blast, in Karol Bagh, was the result of a CNG cylinder explosion.
Two people were injured in the first blast in the busy Gaffar market of Karol Bagh in Central Delhi.
The explosion took place in a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) cylinder in an auto rickshaw in Gaffar Market, the hub of mobile shops. Ambulances and police rushed to the spot.
Police asked people not to panic.