Indra Sinha (born 1950 in

Colaba Colaba (; or ISO 15919, ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During the Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, Maharashtra, India) is a British writer of Indian and English descent. '' Animal's People'', his most recent novel, was shortlisted for the 2007

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

and winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Europe and South Asia. In July 2015, Sinha was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Literature by the University of Brighton for "his major contribution to literature and demonstrating the power of words in changing people’s lives".

Biography

Sinha is the son of an officer in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

and an English writer. He was educated at Mayo College,

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

, Rajasthan in India; Oakham School, Rutland, England and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

in England, where he studied

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

. His wife and he live in the Lot valley in south-west France. They have three grown-up children. Formerly a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to incre ...

for

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, 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 Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, but became increasingly disenchanted with commercial advertising. In 1995, Sinha resigned from the agency to concentrate on writing.

Books

'' Animal's People'', set in the fictional Indian city of Khaufpur, was a reworking of the

Bhopal disaster On 3 December 1984, over 500,000 people in the vicinity of the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India were exposed to the highly toxic gas methyl isocyanate, in what is considered the world's worst ind ...

based on Sinha's long association working with the Bhopal survivors. His earlier works include

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

s of ancient

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

texts into English, a non-fiction

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

of the pre- internet generation ''(The Cybergypsies),'' and a novel, ''The Death of Mr. Love'', based on the case of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra.

KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra ''Commander 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. Commander Nanavati, accused under section 302, was ...

Bibliography

* 1980. ''The Love Teachings of Kama Sutra: With extracts from Koka Shastra, Ananga Ranga and other famous Indian works on love.'' Translations from

and commentary. London: Hamlyn. Hardcover first edition: . First North American edition 1997, New York: Marlowe & Co. Paperback: . * 1993. ''Tantra: The Search for Ecstasy'' (also known with the subtitle "The Cult of Ecstasy"). London: Hamlyn. . * 1993. ''The Great Book of Tantra: Translations and Images from the Classic Indian Text.'' Rochester: Inner Traditions - Bear & Company. . London: Hamlyn paperback edition: . * 1999. ''The Cybergypsies: a True Tale of Lust, War, and Betrayal on the Electronic Frontier.'' New York:

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer and then acqu ...

, hardcover first edition. . New York:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

paperback edition: . * 2002. ''The Death of Mr Love.'' New York: Scribner (Simon & Schuster). . (See also: K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra.) * 2007. '' Animal's People.'' New York: Simon & Schuster. . (See also:

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 Rai 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 Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...

, the multinational owner of Union Carbide, whose neglected, dilapidated and undermanned chemical plant in the city of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

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 In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruling ordering them to supply clean water to the poison victims. Nor does he absolve the

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

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 was an event developed to increase Environmentalism, environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Live Earth 2007 The 1st series ...

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".

References

External links

Interview
on

Radio France Internationale Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

(2 December 2009) to mark 25th anniversary of Bhopal disaster {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha, Indra 1950 births Living people Writers from Mumbai 20th-century British novelists 21st-century British novelists People educated at Oakham School Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge British writers of Indian descent Indian copywriters English-language writers from India Indian male novelists Indian people of English descent 20th-century Indian translators Mayo College alumni 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers