View source for Aravind Adiga

{{Short description|Indian journalist and author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name         = Aravind Adiga
| image        =
| caption      =
| pseudonym    =
| birth_name   =
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1974|10|23}}
| birth_place  = [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]]), [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| death_date   =
| death_place  =
| occupation   = Writer
| education    =
| alma_mater   = [[Columbia University]]<br />[[Magdalen College, Oxford]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Aravind Adiga author biography|url=https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/1552/aravind-adiga|website=BookBrowse.com|access-date=3 March 2018}}</ref>
| period       =
| genre        = Novel and short story
| subject      =
| movement     =
| notableworks = ''[[The White Tiger (Adiga novel)|The White Tiger]]'', ''[[Last Man in Tower]]'', ''[[Selection Day]]''
| spouse       =
| partner      =
| children     =
| relatives    =
| awards       = 2008 [[Man Booker Prize]]<br />(''[[The White Tiger (Adiga novel)|The White Tiger]]'')<ref>{{cite web|last1=Higgins|first1=Charlotte|title=Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize with The White Tiger|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/14/booker-prize-adiga-white-tiger|website=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=3 March 2018|language=en|date=14 October 2008}}</ref>
| signature    =
| website      = {{URL|http://www.aravindadiga.com/}}
| portaldisp   = Yes
}}

'''Aravind Adiga''' (born 23 October 1974)<ref>{{cite interview | date=18 October 2008 | access-date=9 November 2013 | first=Aravind | last=Adiga | title=Provocation is one of the legitimate goals of literature | url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-provocation-is-one-of-the-legitimate-goals-of-literature-/374718/ | interviewer=Vijay Rana | work=[[The Indian Express]]}}</ref><ref>[http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Indian-novelist-Aravind-Adiga-wins-Booker-prize/373637/ Indian Australian novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize - Express India] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205000338/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Indian-novelist-Aravind-Adiga-wins-Booker-prize/373637/ |date=5 December 2008 }}</ref> is an Indian writer and journalist. His [[debut novel]], ''[[The White Tiger (Adiga novel)|The White Tiger]]'', won the 2008 [[Man Booker Prize]].<ref name="Indian novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize">{{cite news|url=http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Indian-novelist-Aravind-Adiga-wins-Booker-prize/373637/ |title=Indian novelist Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize |date=15 October 2008 |work=Agencies |publisher=Expressindia |access-date=2008-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205000338/http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Indian-novelist-Aravind-Adiga-wins-Booker-prize/373637/ |archive-date=5 December 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref>

==Biography==
===Early life and education===
Aravind Adiga was born in [[Madras]] (now [[Chennai]])<!--(sic)--> on 23 October 1974 to Dr. K. Madhava Adiga and Usha Adiga from [[Mangalore]]. His paternal grandfather was [[K. Suryanarayana Adiga]], former chairman of [[Karnataka Bank]],<ref name="Booker for KannAdiga">{{cite news|url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct162008/scroll2008101695497.asp?section=frontpagenews |title=Booker for KannAdiga |date=16 October 2008 |work=Deccan Herald|access-date=16 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406015813/http://archive.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct162008/scroll2008101695497.asp?section=frontpagenews |archive-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref><ref name="origin">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/16/stories/2008101658160300.htm|title=Mangloreans rejoice over Aravind Adiga's win |date=16 October 2008|access-date=16 October 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081020061237/http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/16/stories/2008101658160300.htm| archive-date= 20 October 2008 |work=[[The Hindu]]| url-status= dead}}</ref> and maternal great-grandfather, [[U. Rama Rao]], was a popular medical practitioner and [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] politician from Madras.<ref name="thehindu_20081103">{{cite news|first=S. |last=Muthiah|url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/11/03/stories/2008110350240500.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110142319/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/11/03/stories/2008110350240500.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 November 2012|title=A lineage of success|date=3 November 2008|work=[[The Hindu]] |author-link=S. Muthiah}}</ref>

Adiga grew up in Mangalore and studied at [[Canara High School]] and later at [[St. Aloysius College, Mangaluru]], where he completed his [[SSLC]] in 1990.<ref name="origin"/><ref name="Alma mater celebrates Adiga's win">{{cite news|url=http://bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20State&sectid=73&contentid=200810152008101519583954559343e3a|title=Almamater celebrates Adiga's win|date=16 October 2008|work=Bangalore Mirror|access-date=16 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018000442/http://bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=News%20-%20State&sectid=73&contentid=200810152008101519583954559343e3a|archive-date=18 October 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After emigrating to Sydney with his family, Aravind studied at [[James Ruse Agricultural High School]].  He later studied English literature at [[Columbia College of Columbia University]], in New York City, under [[Simon Schama]], and graduated as [[salutatorian]] in 1997.<ref>[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol22/vol22_iss23/record2223.13.html At Last! Commencement For More than 8,900 Today. Columbia University Record. MAY 21, 1997] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100627233608/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol22/vol22_iss23/record2223.13.html |date=27 June 2010 }}</ref> He also studied at [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], where one of his tutors was [[Hermione Lee]].

===Career===
Aravind Adiga began his career as a financial journalist, interning at the ''[[Financial Times]]''.  With pieces published in the ''Financial Times'' and ''[[Money (magazine)|Money]]'', he covered the stock market and investment. As a Times correspondent he interviewed US President [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/curious-case-of-aravind-adiga-as-a-famous-literary-recluse-booker-winning-author-is-anomaly-in-publishing-world-9306801.html |title= Curious Case of Aravind Adiga|publisher= First Post| date=16 February 2021}}</ref> His review of previous Booker Prize winner [[Peter Carey (novelist)|Peter Carey]]'s 1988 book, ''[[Oscar and Lucinda]]'', appeared in ''The Second Circle'', an online literary review.<ref>[http://thesecondcircle.net/arv/care.html ''The Second Circle''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525014347/http://thesecondcircle.net/arv/care.html |date=25 May 2010 }}</ref>

Adiga was subsequently hired by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', where he remained a South Asia correspondent for three years before going freelance.<ref>Adiga is the first current or former ''Time'' staffer to win the Man Booker Prize, or its predecessor, the Booker Prize.</ref> He wrote ''The White Tiger'' during this period. He now lives in [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], India.<ref>[http://thesecondcircle.net/arv/ "Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, reviewed by Aravind Adiga"], ''The Second Circle''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206012020/http://thesecondcircle.net/arv/ |date=6 February 2010 }}</ref>

===Booker Prize===
Adiga's debut novel, ''[[The White Tiger (Adiga novel)|The White Tiger]]'', won the 2008 [[Booker Prize]] and has been adapted into a Netflix original movie ''[[The White Tiger (2021 film)|The White Tiger]]''. 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 ethnically Indian but was born on the Caribbean island of [[Trinidad]]. 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]].<ref name="Review: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga ">{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/09/boadi109.xml |title=Review: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga |first=Peter |last=Robins |date=9 August 2008 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=16 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022011323/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=%2Farts%2F2008%2F08%2F09%2Fboadi109.xml |archive-date=22 October 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}</ref> Adiga explained that "criticism by writers like [[Flaubert]], [[Balzac]] and [[Dickens]] of the 19th century helped England and France become better societies".<ref name="I highlighted India's brutal injustices: Adiga">{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/16adiga.htm |title=I highlighted India's brutal injustices: Adiga |date=16 October 2008 |publisher=Rediff |access-date=16 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508040857/http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/16adiga.htm |archive-date=8 May 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy }}</ref>

Shortly after he won the prize, it was alleged that Adiga had, the previous year, sacked the agent who secured his contract with [[Atlantic Books]] at the 2007 [[London Book Fair]].<ref name="Booker in pocket, Aravind Adiga sacks agent">{{cite news|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/booker-in-pocket-aravind-adiga-sacks-agent/76764-19.html?from=search-relatedstories|title=Booker in pocket, Aravind Adiga sacks agent|date=26 October 2008|publisher=CNN-IBN|access-date=27 October 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081205183022/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/booker-in-pocket-aravind-adiga-sacks-agent/76764-19.html?from=search-relatedstories| archive-date= 5 December 2008 | url-status= dead}}</ref> In April 2009, it was announced that the novel would be adapted into a feature film.<ref>Kay, Jeremy (15 April 2009), [http://www.screendaily.com/news/production/uk-ireland/smuggler-ascension-acquire-2008-mann-booker-winner-white-tiger/5000306.article "Smuggler, Ascension acquire 2008 Mann Booker winner White Tiger"], ''Screen Daily''.</ref> Propelled mainly by the Booker Prize win, ''The White Tiger''{{'}}s Indian hardcover edition sold more than 200,000 copies.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article148574.ece "Boom time for English-language books in India"], ''The Hindu'', 4 March 2010.</ref>

=== Academic criticism ===
The novel is described as a first-person ''[[Bildungsroman]]'' and placed within the wider context of contemporary [[Indian Writing in English|Indian writing in English]], as a novel about "the Darkness" (which reminds us of [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]]'s London) and a fascinating success story about the overnight rise of one character from rags to riches, but also about India’s development as a global market economy. Mendes (2010) notices in this a certain artificiality, cleverly masked by irony, and remarks the {{"'}}cardboard cut-out' title character equipped with an inauthentic voice that ultimately undermines issues of class politics" (p.&nbsp;277). Pakistani blogger Sarmad Iqbal reviewed Adiga's ''The White Tiger'' for ''International Policy Digest'', saying: "This novel in multiple ways was an eye opener for me about the rising India as being a Pakistani I grew up listening to and learning nothing good about India. As I got acquainted with all the dark secrets of a rising India divulged by Adiga in this novel, I came across several astonishing similarities between what goes in the 'enemy state' I knew from my childhood and my own country Pakistan."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://intpolicydigest.org/2017/09/16/an-insight-into-the-white-tiger-by-aravind-adiga/|title=An Insight into 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga|date=16 September 2017|website=International Policy Digest}}</ref>

=== Other works ===
Adiga's second book, ''[[Between the Assassinations]]'', was released in India in November 2008 and in the US and UK in mid-2009.<ref>{{cite news | title= AravindAdiga.com |url= http://www.AravindAdiga.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Praveen |last=Donthi |title=Adigas second book to hit shelves |url=http://archive.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct242008/scroll2008102496976.asp?section=frontpagenews |work=[[Deccan Herald]] |date=23 October 2008 |access-date=27 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406015826/http://archive.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct242008/scroll2008102496976.asp?section=frontpagenews |archive-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref> His third book, ''[[Last Man in Tower]]'', was published in the UK in 2011. His next novel, ''[[Selection Day]]'', was published on 8 September 2016.<ref>{{cite news | title= Good Reads |url= http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28277145-selection-day}}</ref> ''Amnesty'' published in 2020 speaks of the pathetic condition of immigrants. It was shortlisted for the 2021 [[Miles Franklin Award]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|date=2020-06-16|title=Miles Franklin 2021 shortlist announced|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/06/16/188143/miles-franklin-2021-shortlist-announced/|access-date=2021-06-16|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}</ref> 

==Bibliography==
===Novels===
* ''[[The White Tiger (Adiga novel)|The White Tiger]]: A Novel''. [[Atlantic Books|Atlantic Books, Ltd]] (UK), [[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]] (US), 2008
* ''[[Between the Assassinations]]''. Picador (IND), 2008
* ''[[Last Man in Tower]]''. Fourth Estate (IND), 2011
* ''[[Selection Day]]''. HarperCollins India (IND), 2016
* ''[[Amnesty (novel)|Amnesty]]''. Picador, Pan Macmillan, 2020

===Short stories===
* "The Sultan's Battery" (''[[The Guardian]]'', 18 October 2008, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/18/aravind-adiga-short-story online text])
* "Smack" (''[[The Sunday Times]]'', 16 November 2008, [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article5139563.ece online text])
* "Last Christmas in Bandra" (''[[The Times]]'', 19 December 2008, [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/article5369795.ece online text])
* "The Elephant" (''[[The New Yorker]]'', 26 January 2009, [http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2009/01/26/090126fi_fiction_adiga online text])

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote|Aravind Adiga}}
* [http://www.aravindadiga.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/oct/161008-aravind-adiga-man-booker-prize-winner-teachers-nostalgia.htm About Aravind Adiga]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081020080511/http://www.time.com/time/searchresults?query=%20ARAVIND%20ADIGA ''Time'' magazine – Search Results for Aravind Adiga]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100206012020/http://thesecondcircle.net/arv/ Articles by Aravind Adiga] for ''The Second Circle, A Review of Contemporary Literature''
* [http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/09/express/india-a-view-from-below "Aravind Adiga in Conversation with Hirsh Sawhney"], ''[[The Brooklyn Rail]]'' (September 2008)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081017194611/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/08/09/boadi109.xml "Review of The White Tiger"], ''The Telegraph''
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/world/europe/15booker.html?ref=arts "Novel About India Wins the Man Booker Prize"], ''The New York Times'', 14 October 2008
* [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/aug/28/india.renting?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews Article by Aravind Adiga] in ''[[The Guardian]]''
* {{OL author}}

{{Booker Prize}}
{{Indian Booker Prize recipients}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adiga, Aravind}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Australia]]
[[Category:Booker Prize winners]]
[[Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni]]
[[Category:Journalists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Indian male novelists]]
[[Category:Kannada-language writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mangaloreans]]
[[Category:Writers from Mangalore]]
[[Category:English-language writers from India]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian novelists]]
[[Category:People educated at James Ruse Agricultural High School]]
[[Category:Novelists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Kannada people]]