SHARJAH: Geetanjali Shree (pic), who won the International Booker Prize 2022, said that having doubts about yourself is “sometimes a good thing.”
“Not knowing something can be good for you and help you strive for excellence. If you want to be a writer, work hard and say what you think clearly.
“The rest is up to the readers,” she told a large group of students from different schools in the UAE at the 41st Sharjah International Book Fair.
Geetanjali’s novel Tomb of Sands, which won the Booker Prize, is about a grandmother who decides to change her life.
“Of course, every writer feels insecure and uncertain at some point, and I feel that way all the time. Even still. I can’t talk about how beautiful and perfect my writing is because if I think I’m perfect, I won’t write anymore, and that’s just nonsense,” she said.
“I always worry, and I haven’t been able to say where I want it to be. Many things are left off. So that uncertainty can be the answer that keeps me going, keeps me fighting, and most of it comes from living it, so you will know and feel it.
The large number of students from various schools in the UAE listening to a talk by award-winning author, Geetanjali Shree.
“Words are all about what you think they mean. Using a word in an informal way gives it a light, casual touch, while using the same word in a formal way gives it a more refined tone,” the 2022 Booker Prize winner from India said.
“No, I didn’t expect to win at all,” she said when asked if she thought she would. This is not my first book; I’ve been writing for 30 years.”
“I didn’t think that if I wrote this, I might get this and that if I did it. I was just writing. But I’m thankful, because it was a prize I never thought would be coming my way. It was a surprise,” she said.
Geetanjali talked about how she became a writer. She said, “Becoming an artist or a writer isn’t always a good way to make money. It’s up to each of us to figure out how we can keep it going while taking care of our families. Following your passion depends on how well you can combine it with your job and keep it going.”
“Your career may be teaching in a school or college, but your passion may be to write, play music, or dance. And you have to put the two together. These are choices that each person has to make on their own.
“In my case, I studied history for a while, got a job teaching, and then started teaching at the university. My real dream was to write fiction in Hindi, and while I was doing research and preparing lectures for the class, I kept wondering when I would have time to write a book of my own.
“At one point, I told myself that if I wanted to write and had feelings to share, I had to go for it, even if it would make my life a little less comfortable. And I’m lucky. I didn’t become a millionaire, but I’m not going hungry either. So, it is okay.
On the qualities required to become an author, Geetanjali said: “I think that being honest with yourself is the most important thing when it comes to writing.
“To get a full picture, it’s important to stay open to different points of view that may be different from your own. Also, one needs to expand their imagination in order to come up with stories and tell them.
“Treat your life and the world around you as a place to honestly look at what’s going on and try to figure out what’s going on. It doesn’t have to be the biggest things you need to understand. It could start at home, like with domestic violence, which is a very common problem around the world.
“If you see domestic violence, you should wonder why it’s happening, if it’s right, who’s right and who’s wrong, where that way of thinking came from, if it should be changed, if there’s a way to show courage, and if you can live with it.
“All of these are questions that come up in your daily life.”
She said, “I think it’s important that we learn to observe our world in a sensitive and honest way so that we can understand the bigger world and the future better.”
