By Triveni Sharma: Women speak their minds differently from men. The emotions are conveyed in their writings; the issues raised by them are to be viewed in a positive light with legitimate concerns touching half of the world’s population.
Here is the list of five top Indian Women writers who penned their thoughts and views and became the source of inspiration for millions across the globe.
Anita Desai
Well-known eminent novelist and short-story writer Anita Desai is among the top women writers in India. She was nominated thrice for the Booker’s Prize. She made her debut with ‘Cry the Peacock in 1963 as a novelist.
Her work was a part of new style of writing, which came out with less conservative writings of India. She always focused on the family values in India and the conflicts in modern Indian families.
Her contribution are “The Peacock”, “Voices of the City”, “Fire on the Mountain”, “Clear light of Day”, “In Custody”, “Fasting, Feasting” and “The Village by the Sea”. Her novel “Fire on the Mountain” (1977) won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. Her children’s book “The Village by the Sea” (1982) won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award.
Throughout her career, Anita Desai won many laurels and honours like Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978, Guardian’s Children fiction prize in 1983, Neil Gunn prize in 1993, Alberto Moravia prize for literature in 2000, and Benson medal of Royal society of literature in 2003.
Arundathi Roy
Arundhati Roy was the first Indian woman to win the Booker Prize for her novel “The God of Small Things” in 1997. Arundhati Roy is an unusual blend of artist and activist. She was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004 for her non-violent devotion to social causes. “The God of Small Things”, a tragic story of Indian twins Estha and Rahel and a family entangled in the rigid Indian caste system. Six million copies of this novel were sold, which made her famous across the world.
She spent the next decade writing and speaking on political topics like India’s nuclear weapons programs, the Narmada Dam, and the war in Iraq. Her non-fiction books include “The Cost of Living” (1999), “Power Politics” (2002), and “War Talk” (2003).
Anita Nair
Anita Nair is one of the top Indian women writers. She is a passionate writer who writes on human nature and values and includes the female leaning module in it. Her books have been published in several languages around the world. Her last novel, “Mistress”, was long listed for the 2008 Orange Prize in the UK, and named a finalist for the 2007 PEN/Beyond Margins Award in the U.S. The Lilac House was recently adapted for stage and film in India.
Her other works include- Better Man, Mistress, The Puffin Book of Magical Indian Myths,Where The Rain is Born-Writing about K, Ladis Coupe, Lessons in forgetting Pb, and Malabar Mind.
Shashi Deshpande
Shashi Deshpande made her first appearance in ‘The Dark Holds No Terror’ published in 1980 and published the collection of her short stories in 1978. Shashi Deshpande is a well-known name in the field of Indian literature.
She was the winner of Sahitya Akademi Award for the novel ‘That Long Silence’ in 1990 and the Padma Shri award in 2009. Her other works include- The Binding Vine, Matter of Time, and ‘That Long Silence’.
Shobha De
Shobha De is an eminent and controversial Indian novelist who is also known as Jackie Collins of India. She is by far one of the most notorious writers that India has ever had. She is a novelist, freelance writer, copywriter and columnist and known for her columns in ‘The Week.’
Her notable works include- Starry Nights, Socialite Evenings, Sultry Days, Sisters, and Small betrayals, Second Thoughts, Surviving Men, Spouse, Snapshots and Selective Memory.