Indra Sinha
Encyclopedia
Indra Sinha is a British writer of English and Indian descent. Formerly a copywriter
for Ogilvy & Mather
, London, and, from 1984, Collett Dickenson Pearce
& Partners, Sinha has the distinction of having been voted one of the top ten British copywriters of all time. He became known for hard-hitting, campaigning advertising for charities such as Amnesty International
and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, but became increasingly disenchanted with commercial advertising. He resigned from the agency in 1995 to concentrate on writing novels and non-fiction.
Indra Sinha's books, in addition to his translation
s of ancient Sanskrit
texts into English, include a non-fiction memoir
of the pre-internet generation
(The Cybergypsies), and novels based on the case of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra
(The Death of Mr. Love), and the Bhopal disaster
(Animal's People
). Animal's People, his most recent book, was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize
and a regional winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
.
Sinha is the son of an Indian naval officer
and an English writer. He was educated at Mayo College
, Ajmer
, Rajasthan in India; Oakham School
, Rutland, England and Pembroke College, Cambridge
in England, where he studied English literature
. He and his wife live in Sussex
. They have three grown-up children.
of a dead child being buried) that raised money to build a clinic to provide free treatment for the survivors. He is an outspoken critic of Dow Chemical Company
, the multinational owner of Union Carbide
, whose neglected, dilapidated and undermanned chemical plant in the city of Bhopal leaked 27 tonnes of poisonous gas on the night of 3 December 1984, killing up to 8,000 people and injuring upwards of half a million. Around 22,000 people have died as a result of injuries sustained on "that night", and more than 100,000 remain chronically ill; the abandoned, derelict factory continues to leach toxic chemicals into the groundwater, poisoning wells.
Apart from his novel, Animal's People (a fictionalised account of the aftermath of the disaster), Sinha has given many interviews and written several articles on the subject, including one in The Guardian marking the 25th anniversary of the disaster, in which he roundly condemns local politicians (particularly Babulal Gaur
of the BJP
) for their failure to comply with a 2004 Supreme Court
ruling ordering them to supply clean water to the poison victims. Nor does he absolve the Indian Government
of blame.
As a former advertising copywriter, Sinha is particularly scathing about Dow Chemical Company's attempts to improve its image through its sponsorship of events such as the Blue Planet Run and Live Earth
Run For Water. He has called Dow's "Human Element" advertising campaign "glossy falsehoods", and quotes artist Paul Phare (who created a set of e-cards in response to Dow) “Telling a lie beautifully does not make it true.”
Copywriting
Copywriting is the use of words and ideas to promote a person, business, opinion or idea. Although the word copy may be applied to any content intended for printing , the term copywriter is generally limited to promotional situations, regardless of the medium...
for Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...
, London, and, from 1984, Collett Dickenson Pearce
Collett Dickenson Pearce
Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners emerged from the "Swinging London" cultural shifts of the 1960s as Britain's most glamorous and influential advertising agency, generally regarded as one of the finest advertising agencies in the world during the 1970s...
& Partners, Sinha has the distinction of having been voted one of the top ten British copywriters of all time. He became known for hard-hitting, campaigning advertising for charities such as Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, but became increasingly disenchanted with commercial advertising. He resigned from the agency in 1995 to concentrate on writing novels and non-fiction.
Indra Sinha's books, in addition to his translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
s of ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
texts into English, include a non-fiction memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
of the pre-internet generation
Generation Z
Generation Z is a common name in the US and other Western nations for the group of people born from the early 1990s through to the present....
(The Cybergypsies), and novels based on the case of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra
K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra
K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra was a 1959 Indian court case where Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati, a Naval Commander, was tried for the murder of Prem Ahuja, his wife's lover. The incident received unprecedented media coverage and inspired several books and movies...
(The Death of Mr. Love), and the Bhopal disaster
Bhopal disaster
The Bhopal disaster also known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India...
(Animal's People
Animal's People
Animal's People is a novel by Indra Sinha. It was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize and is the Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers's Prize:Best Book From Europe & South Asia. Sinha's narrator is a 19-year-old orphan of Khaufpur, born a few days before the 1984 Bhopal disaster, whose...
). Animal's People, his most recent book, was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
and a regional winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...
.
Sinha is the son of an Indian naval officer
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
and an English writer. He was educated at Mayo College
Mayo College
Mayo College is a public school founded by the 6th Earl of Mayo, who was Viceroy of India from 1869 to 1872.The school is located in Ajmer, in the state of Rajasthan, India....
, Ajmer
Ajmer
Ajmer , formerly written as Ajmere, is a city in Ajmer District in Rajasthan state in India. Ajmer has a population of around 800,000 , and is located west of the Rajasthan state capital Jaipur, 200 km from Jodhpur, 274 km from Udaipur, 439 km from Jaisalmer, and 391 km from...
, Rajasthan in India; Oakham School
Oakham School
Oakham School is a British co-educational independent school in the historic market town of Oakham in Rutland, accepting around 1,000 pupils, aged from 10 to 18, both male and female, as boarders and day pupils . The Good Schools Guide called the school "a privileged but unpretentious and...
, Rutland, England and Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
in England, where he studied English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
. He and his wife live in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. They have three grown-up children.
Books
- 1980. The Love Teachings of Kama Sutra: With extracts from Koka Shastra, Ananga RangaAnanga RangaThe Ananga Ranga or Kamaledhiplava is an Indian sex manual written by Kalyana malla in the 15th or 16th century. The poet wrote the work in honor of Lad Khan, son of Ahmed Khan Lodi. He was related to the Lodi dynasty, which from 1451 to 1526 ruled from Delhi...
and other famous Indian works on love. Translations from SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and commentary. London: HamlynHamlyn (publishers)Hamlyn is a UK publishing company founded by Paul Hamlyn in 1950 with an initial investment of £350. His desire was to create "fine books with the common touch" which remains the foundation of its commercial success...
. Hardcover first edition: ISBN 0-60034-158-5. First North American edition 1997, New York: Marlowe & Co. Paperback: ISBN 1-56924-779-X. - 1993. Tantra: The Search for Ecstasy (also known with the subtitle "The Cult of Ecstasy"). London: Hamlyn. ISBN 0-60057-699-X.
- 1993. The Great Book of Tantra: Translations and Images from the Classic Indian Text. Rochester: Inner Traditions - Bear & CompanyInner Traditions - Bear & CompanyInner Traditions – Bear & Company, also known as Inner Traditions, is a book publisher founded by Ehud Sperling in 1975 and based in Rochester, Vermont in the United States....
. ISBN 0-89281-487-X. London: Hamlyn paperback edition: ISBN 0600599981. - 1999. The Cybergypsies: a True Tale of Lust, War, and Betrayal on the Electronic Frontier. New York: Viking PressViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
, hardcover first edition. ISBN 0-67088-630-0. New York: Simon & SchusterSimon & SchusterSimon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
paperback edition: ISBN 0-68481-929-5. - 2002. The Death of Mr Love. New York: ScribnerCharles Scribner's SonsCharles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing a number of American authors including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, Robert A. Heinlein, Thomas Wolfe, George Santayana, John Clellon...
(Simon & Schuster). ISBN 0-74320-698-3. (See also: K. M. Nanavati vs. State of MaharashtraK. M. Nanavati vs. State of MaharashtraK. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra was a 1959 Indian court case where Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati, a Naval Commander, was tried for the murder of Prem Ahuja, his wife's lover. The incident received unprecedented media coverage and inspired several books and movies...
.) - 2007. Animal's PeopleAnimal's PeopleAnimal's People is a novel by Indra Sinha. It was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize and is the Winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers's Prize:Best Book From Europe & South Asia. Sinha's narrator is a 19-year-old orphan of Khaufpur, born a few days before the 1984 Bhopal disaster, whose...
. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-74325-920-3. (See also: Bhopal disasterBhopal disasterThe Bhopal disaster also known as Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a gas leak incident in India, considered one of the world's worst industrial catastrophes. It occurred on the night of December 2–3, 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India...
.)
Bhopal
Sinha has been a passionate campaigner for justice for the victims of the Bhopal disaster since 1993, when he created the first advertisement for the Bhopal Medical Appeal (using the now-famous photograph by Raghu RaiRaghu Rai
Raghu Rai is an Indian photographer and photojournalist. A protege of Henri Cartier-Bresson who appointed Rai, then a young photojournalist to Magnum Photos in 1977, which he co-founded....
of a dead child being buried) that raised money to build a clinic to provide free treatment for the survivors. He is an outspoken critic of Dow Chemical Company
Dow Chemical Company
The Dow Chemical Company is a multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. As of 2007, it is the second largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization .Dow...
, the multinational owner of Union Carbide
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. It currently employs more than 2,400 people. Union Carbide primarily produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers before reaching consumers. Some are high-volume...
, whose neglected, dilapidated and undermanned chemical plant in the city of Bhopal leaked 27 tonnes of poisonous gas on the night of 3 December 1984, killing up to 8,000 people and injuring upwards of half a million. Around 22,000 people have died as a result of injuries sustained on "that night", and more than 100,000 remain chronically ill; the abandoned, derelict factory continues to leach toxic chemicals into the groundwater, poisoning wells.
Apart from his novel, Animal's People (a fictionalised account of the aftermath of the disaster), Sinha has given many interviews and written several articles on the subject, including one in The Guardian marking the 25th anniversary of the disaster, in which he roundly condemns local politicians (particularly Babulal Gaur
Babulal Gaur
Babulal Gaur is a current cabinet minister in BJP ministry of Madhya Pradesh and a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, India. He was born in a Yadav family in a village in Uttar Pradesh. He served as chief minister from August 23 2004 following the resignation of Uma Bharti...
of the BJP
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
) for their failure to comply with a 2004 Supreme Court
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
ruling ordering them to supply clean water to the poison victims. Nor does he absolve the Indian Government
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
of blame.
As a former advertising copywriter, Sinha is particularly scathing about Dow Chemical Company's attempts to improve its image through its sponsorship of events such as the Blue Planet Run and Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
Run For Water. He has called Dow's "Human Element" advertising campaign "glossy falsehoods", and quotes artist Paul Phare (who created a set of e-cards in response to Dow) “Telling a lie beautifully does not make it true.”
External links
- Official Indra Sinha website
- Interview on Radio France InternationaleRadio France InternationaleRadio France Internationale was created in 1975 as part of Radio France by the Government of France, and replaced the Poste Colonial , Paris Mondial , Radio Paris , RTF Radio Paris and ORTF Radio Paris...
(2 December 2009) to mark 25th anniversary of Bhopal disaster