[Reader-list] Indian novelist's death ignored

[Shivam Vij]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 20 May 2004 14:14:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Sreenath Sreenivasan <ss221 at columbia.edu>
To: SAJA E-mail Discussion List
<saja-disc at lists.jrn.columbia.edu>
Subject: OBIT: Kamala Markandaya, author of "Nectar in
a Sieve" and others

See this note from SAJAer VINEETA ANAND about the
death of influential Indian writer (and former
journalist) Kamala Markandaya. Included is an obit
written by Prof. Charles Larson, chair of the English
literature department at American University.

He says no major Indian or US publication has yet
carried an obit about her, even though she died on
Sunday. A quick check of Google News and Nexis SEEMS
to confirm this.

He has prepared an obit that he was hoping some
publications would consider publishing. His contact
info is below - if you are at a newspaper or website,
please pass this onto the right folks... And please
let Prof. Larson and SAJA know if it (or another obit)
gets published. This is a passing that deserves
notice.

>From the obit: "Her two most popular novels, NECTAR
IN A SIEVE and a HANDFUL OF RICE, are taught in
hundreds of American courses, both in the public
shools and the universities."

I remember studying NIAS twice - in my "English
subsidiary" class at St. Stephen's College in Delhi
University AND in high school in Fiji.

SAJA called Shashi Tharoor, author of "The Great
Indian Novel" and "Riot" for a comment for publication
and here's what he said: "This is a terrible loss.
Markandaya was a pioneer who influenced all of us
Indians writing in English." (feel free to use this as
well).

The obits and contacts are below... Please help us get
the word out.

sree at sree.net | sreenath sreenivasan
http://www.sreetips.com | http://www.sree.net


From: Vineeta Anand <vanand at crain.com>
To: Sree at sree.net
Subject: Kamala Markandya obit

Sree,

This is an obit of Kamala Markandaya, the renowned
Indian novelist, written by Charles Larson, the head
of the English Literature department at American
University. He was very upset that no Indian or
American newspaper has published her obit even though
she died on Sunday. Could you please post this to the
SAJA list and also ask if any of the SAJA members
working at newspapers can publish this? It would be a
shame if her death goes unnoticed.

Thanks,
Vineeta Anand
Washington Bureau Chief
Pensions & Investments

=-----=

Kamala Markandaya: An Appreciation
Charles R. Larson, Chair, Dept. of Literature
American University, Washington, D.C. 20016

Email: clarson at american.edu

KAMALA MARKANDAYA, the Indian novelist, died in
London, Sunday, May 18, 2004.  Born Kamala Purnaiya in
Mysore in 1924, she attended the University of Madras,
beginning in 1940, where she studied history.  From
1940 to 1947, she worked as a journalist and also
published short stories in
Indian newspapers, eventually emigrating to England in
1948.  There she met her husband, Bertrand Taylor, by
whom she had one daughter. Fame and success came with
her first published novel, NECTAR IN A SIEVE (1954), a
Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection and best-seller
in the United
States. That novel was follow by nine others,
including A HANDFUL OF RICE (1966), THE NOWHERE MAN
(1972), TWO VIRGINS (1973), and THE GOLDEN HONEYCOMB
(1977).

Markandaya was often linked to other Anglo-Indian
novelists at mid-point in the twentieth century,
including Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, and
Khushwant Singh, though she was the only female of the
group. That special sensitivity demarcated all of her
work, especially SOME INNER FURY (1955) and TWO
VIRGINS. Readers of her novels, however, were more
often struck by the tensions her characters
encountered when they left the rural areas for the
cities. Her two most popular novels, NECTAR IN A SIEVE
and a HANDFUL OF RICE, where taught in hundreds of
American courses, both in the public shools and the
universities.

Always a very private person, Markandaya granted few
interviews and intentionally kept out of the
limelight. After 1948, England became her home, with
frequent trips back to India in order to find the 
necessary inspiration for her writing.

She is survived by her daughter, Kim Oliver.

``````````````````````````````````````````

  Homage To Indo-British Novelist Kamala Markandaya

  By Francis C. Assisi in Boston
  Indo Link / 21 May 2004
 
http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=052104015424



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