Aravind Adiga

Aravind Adiga
Born	23 October 1974 (1974-10-23) (age 37) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Writer
Ethnicity	Indian
Citizenship	Indian Australian
Alma mater	Columbia University Magdalen College, Oxford
Notable work(s)	The White Tiger
Notable award(s)	2008 Man Booker Prize (The White Tiger)
aravindadiga.com
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Aravind Adiga (Kannada: ಅರವಿಂದ ಅಡಿಗ, born 23 October 1974^[1]) is an Indian writer and journalist. His debut novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize.^[2]

Biography

Early life and education

Aravind Adiga was born in Madras (now Chennai) on 23 October 1974 to Dr. K. Madhava Adiga and Usha Adiga, Kannadigas both of whom hailed from Mangalore. His paternal grandfather was the late K. Suryanarayana Adiga, former chairman of Karnataka bank.^[3][4] He grew up in Mangalore and studied at Canara High School, then at St. Aloysius High School, where he completed his SSLC in 1990. He secured first rank in the state in SSLC. Incidentally his elder brother Anand Adiga secured 2 nd rank in SSLC and first rank in PUC in the state.^[4][5] After emigrating to Sydney, Australia, with his family, he studied at James Ruse Agricultural High School. He studied English literature at Columbia College, Columbia University in New York, where he studied with Simon Schama and graduated as salutatorian in 1997.^[6] He also studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where one of his tutors was Hermione Lee.

Career

Adiga began his journalistic career as a financial journalist, interning at the Financial Times. With pieces published in the Financial Times and Money, he covered the stock market and investment, interviewing, among others, Donald Trump. His review of previous Booker Prize winner Peter Carey's book, Oscar and Lucinda, appeared in The Second Circle, an online literary review.^[7] He was subsequently hired by TIME, where he remained a South Asia correspondent for three years before going freelance.^[8] During his freelance period, he wrote The White Tiger. He currently lives in Mumbai, India.^[9]

Booker Prize

Aravind Adiga's debut novel, The White Tiger, won the 2008 Booker Prize. He is the fourth Indian-born author to win the prize, after Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai. (V. S. Naipaul, another winner, is of Indian origin, but is not an Indian citizen). The five other authors on the shortlist included one other Indian writer (Amitav Ghosh) and another first-time writer (Steve Toltz).^[10] The novel studies the contrast between India's rise as a modern global economy and the lead character, Balram, who comes from crushing rural poverty.^[11]

“

At a time when India is going through great changes and, with China, is likely to inherit the world from the West, it is important that writers like me try to highlight the brutal injustices of society (Indian). That's what I'm trying to do – it is not an attack on the country, it's about the greater process of self-examination.

”

He explained that "the criticism by writers like Flaubert, Balzac and Dickens of the 19th century helped England and France become better societies".^[12]

Shortly after winning the prize it was alleged that Adiga had, the previous year, sacked the agent that had secured his contract with Atlantic Books at the 2007 London Book Fair.^[13] In April 2009 it was announced that the novel would be adapted into a feature film.^[14] Propelled mainly by the Booker Prizer win, The White Tiger's Indian hardcover edition has sold in excess of 200,000 copies.^[15]

Between the Assassinations

Adiga's second book, Between the Assassinations, was released in India in November 2008 and in the US and UK in mid-2009.^[16] The book features 12 interlinked short stories.^[17]

Bibliography

Novels

• The White Tiger: A Novel: Atlantic Books, Ltd (UK), Free Press (US), 2008
• Between the Assassinations: Picador (IND), 2008
• Last Man in Tower: Fourth Estate (IND), 2011

Short stories

• "The Sultan's Battery" (The Guardian, 18 October 2008, online text)
• "Smack" (The Sunday Times, 16 November 2008, online text)
• "Last Christmas in Bandra" (The Times, 19 December 2008, online text)
• "The Elephant" (The New Yorker, 26 January 2009, online text)

References

1. ^ Indian Australian novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize - Express India Archived 17 January 2010 at WebCite
2. ^ "Indian novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize". Agencies (Expressindia). 15 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Indian-novelist-Aravind-Adiga-wins-Booker-prize/373637/. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
3. ^ "Booker for KannAdiga". Deccan Herald. 16 October 2008. http://archive.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct162008/scroll2008101695497.asp?section=frontpagenews. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Karnataka/Mangalore News:Mangaloreans rejoice over aravind adiga's win". The Hindu. 16 October 2008. http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/16/stories/2008101658160300.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
5. ^ "Almamater celebrates Adiga's win". Bangalore Mirror. 16 October 2008. http://bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20State&sectid=73&contentid=200810152008101519583954559343e3a. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
6. ^ At Last! Commencement For More than 8,900 Today. Columbia University Record. MAY 21, 1997 Archived 17 January 2010 at WebCite
7. ^ The Second Circle Archived 17 January 2010 at WebCite
8. ^ Adiga is the first current or former TIME staffer to win the Man Booker Prize, or its predecessor, the Booker Prize.
9. ^ The second circle Archived 17 January 2010 at WebCite
10. ^ "First-timers seeking Booker glory". BBC. 9 September 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7606147.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
11. ^ "Review: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga". The Telegraph. 9 August 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/09/boadi109.xml. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
12. ^ "I highlighted India's brutal injustices: Adiga". Rediff. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/16adiga.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-16. 
13. ^ "Booker in pocket, Aravind Adiga sacks agent". CNN-IBN. 26 October 2008. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/booker-in-pocket-aravind-adiga-sacks-agent/76764-19.html?from=search-relatedstories. Retrieved 2008-10-27. 
14. ^ Smuggler, Ascension acquire 2008 Mann Booker winner White Tiger | News | Screen
15. ^ "http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article148574.ece"
16. ^ "AravindAdiga.com". http://www.AravindAdiga.com. 
17. ^ Donthi, Praveen (2008-10-23). "Adigas second book to hit shelves". Deccan Herald. http://archive.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct242008/scroll2008102496976.asp?section=frontpagenews. Retrieved 2008-10-27. 

External links

• Official website
• About Aravind Adiga
• TIME Magazine – Search Results for Aravind Adiga
• Articles by Aravind Adiga for The Second Circle, A Review of Contemporary Literature
• "Aravind Adiga in Conversation with Hirsh Sawhney", Brooklyn Rail, September 2008
• "Review of The White Tiger", The Telegraph
• "Novel About India Wins the Man Booker Prize", The New York Times, 14 October 2008
• Article by Aravind Adiga in The Guardian
• Works by Aravind Adiga on Open Library at the Internet Archive

Persondata
Name	Adiga, Aravind
Alternative names	ಅರವಿಂದ ಅಡಿಗ
Short description	Indian journalist and author
Date of birth	23 October 1974
Place of birth	Chennai
Date of death
Place of death