VIKRAM SETH LITERARY WORKS

Early life and education

Seth was born on 20 June 1952 in Calcutta. His father, Prem Nath Seth,
was an executive of Bata Shoes and his mother, Leila Seth, a Barrister by
training, became the first female judge of the Delhi High Court and first
woman to become Chief Justice of a state High Court in India.
Seth was educated at the all-boys' private boarding school The Doon
School in Dehradun, where he was editor-in-chief of The Doon School
Weekly. At Doon, he was influenced by his teacher, the
mountaineer Gurdial Singh, who taught him geography and, according to
Leila Seth, "guided Vikram in many ways...encouraged him to appreciate
Western classical music and instilled in him a love of adventure and daring."
Singh later described Seth as an "indefatigable worker, and he maintains
without difficulty his distinguished level in studies...he has put in enormous
amount of energy in other spheres of school life, in dramatics, in debating,
in first aid, in music, and in editing the Doon School Weekly." After
graduating from Doon, Seth went to Tonbridge School, England, to complete
his A-levels. Later he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Corpus
Christi College, Oxford. He then pursued a Ph.D. in Economics at Stanford
University though never completed it.
 Personal life
Seth is bisexual. He was in a relationship with the violinist Philippe
Honoré for ten years and dedicated his novel An Equal Music to him. In
2006, he became a leader of the campaign against Section 377 of the Indian
Penal Code, a law against homosexuality. When Section 377 was reinstated
in 2013, Seth continued campaigning against the law.

Seth divides his time between the United Kingdom, where he bought and
renovated the former home of the Anglican poet George
Herbert near Salisbury, and India, where he has a family home
in Noida ,uttar pradesh
 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF VIKRAM SET

Novels

 The Golden Gate (1986)

 A Suitable Boy (1993)
 An Equal Music (1999)
Poetry

 Mappings (1980)
 The Tale Of Melon City (1981)
 The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985)
 All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990)
 Beastly Tales (1991)
 Three Chinese Poets (1992)
 The Frog and the Nightingale (1994)
 Summer Requiem: A Book of Poems (2015)
 A Doctor’s Journal Entry for August 6, 1945
 Elephant and the Trapogan
Children's fiction

 Arion and the Dolphin (1994)

 The Louse and the Mosquito (2020)
Non-fiction

 From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and

Tibet (1983)
 Two Lives (2005)
 The Rivered Earth (2011)
Appearances in poetry anthologies

 The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets.

Ed. Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. New Delhi: Oxford University Press,
1992.
 The Golden Treasure of Writers Workshop Poetry. Ed.
Rubana Huq. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 2008.
 AWARDS AND HONOURS OF VIKRAM SETH

 1983 – Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for From Heaven

Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet
 1985 – Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia) for The Humble
Administrator's Garden
 1988 – Sahitya Akademi Award for The Golden Gate
 1993 – Shortlisted, Irish Times International Fiction
Prize for A Suitable Boy
 1994 – Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best
Book) for A Suitable Boy
 1994 – WH Smith Literary Award for A Suitable Boy
 1999 – Crossword Book Award for An Equal Music
 2001 – Commander of the Order of the British Empire
 2001 – EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award)
for Best Book/Novel for An Equal Music
 2005 – Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
 2007 – Padma Shri in Literature & Education
 2013 – NDTV's 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In India
 REFERENCES

"Vikram Seth". Desert Island Discs. 22 January 2012. BBC

Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
1. Hor, Sandip (2010). "Indian Link — The City of
Wonders". indianlink.com.au. Archived from the original on 4
April 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
2. Joshi, Rita (1991). "In Other Places: An Inner Voice". India
International Centre Quarterly. 18 (1): 55–
65. JSTOR 23002110.
3. Angela Atkins (26 June 2002). Vikram Seth's Suitable
Boy: A Reader's Guide. A&C Black. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-8264-
5707-3.
4. Jump up to:a b c Leila Seth (7 February 2007). On
Balance. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 137–. ISBN 978-81-8475-
055-3.
5. "A suitable joy | Books". The Guardian. 26 March 1999.
Retrieved 7 April 2020.
6. Atkins, A. (2002). Vikram Seth's Suitable Boy: A Reader's
Guide. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 8. ISBN 9780826457073.
Retrieved 24 November 2015.
7. "Vikram Seth". ekikrat.in. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
8. "The Golden Gate returns to Stanford May 30".
news.stanford.edu. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 24
November 2015.
9. Vikram Seth's Founder's Day Address, The Doon School,
Penguin Books of Modern Speeches (2009) p.34 "...edited the
Weekly and did other things"
10. "A Suitable Boy: BBC miniseries".
11. Gavron, Jeremy (27 March 1999), "A suitable joy", The
Guardian, London, retrieved 5 September 2007."
12. Flood, Alison (3 July 2009). "Vikram Seth writes Suitable
Boy sequel". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
13. Bhatia, Shyam (1 September 2003), "Seth to get at least
$3 million advance", Rediff.com, retrieved 5 September 2007
14. "Curtis Brown". Archived from the original on 15 August
2004. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
15. "Vikram Seth – Vikram Seth Biography – Poem Hunter".
poemhunter.com. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
16. Jump up to:a b ""It Took Me Long To Come To Terms With
Myself. Those Were Painful Years."". 11 March 2016. Archived
from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 22
September 2022.
17. Seth, Vikram (1999). An Equal Music. Vintage.
18. Seth, Vikram (20 December 2013). "Vikram Seth on
Section 377 and gay rights in India". India Today.
19. Burke, Jason (20 December 2013). "Vikram Seth: India's
gay sex ban is against our tradition of tolerance". The Guardian.
20. Biswas, Soutik (20 December 2013). "Why Indian author
Vikram Seth is angry". BBC News.
21. Lewis, Leo; Island, Jindo (29 July 2006), "Listening to
God's melodies", The Times, London, retrieved 5
September 2007
22. "Vikram Seth", DoonOnline: Features & Spotlights,
archived from the original on 16 May 2006, retrieved 5
September 2007
23. Albertazzi, Silvia (20 January 2005), "An equal music, an
alien world: postcolonial literature and the representation of
European culture", European Review, Cambridge University
Press, vol. 13
24. "Times of India by Shobha John, TNN: 27 Nov 2011,
05.13 am IST : 'I got drunk to write, says Vikram Seth'", The
Times of India, India, 27 November 2011
25. "The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian
Poets". cse.iitk.ac.in. cse.iitk.ac.in. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
26. "Book review: 'Twelve Modern Indian Poets' by Arvind
Krishna Mehrotra". indiatoday.in. indiatoday.in. Retrieved 23
August 2018.
27. Mandal, Somdatta (15 June 2009). "Rubana Huq, ed. The
Golden Treasury of Writers Workshop Poetry. Review". Asiatic:
IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature.
28. "Padma Awards" Ministry of Home Affairs, Government
of India. 2015.

SOURCES
 "Vikram Seth (born 1952)." The Vintage Book of Modern
Indian Literature. New York: Vintage.
 VIKRAM SETH

Born 20 June 1952 (age 71)

Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Occupation  Novelist
 poet
Alma mater Corpus Christi College,
Oxford
Stanford University
Period 1980–present
Genre Novels, poetry, libretto, travel
writing, children's literature,
biography/memoir
 Notable A Suitable Boy
works The Golden Gate
An Equal Music
Notable Padma Shri, Sahitya
awards Academy, Stegner
Fellowship, Guggenheim
Fellowship, Commonwealth
Writers' Prize

ABOUT VIKRAM SETH WORKS

Vikram Seth, an Indian novelist and poet, who has written several novels
and poetry books, was born on June 20, 1952. He has received several
awards including Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award, Pravasi Bharatiya
Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crossword Book Award.

Seth, who believes literature and life should be enjoyable and not
otherworldly, mocks any kind of extreme or romantic attitude towards life.
At a time when coming up with new literary styles as a way to shock readers
is a norm, Seth goes back to old literary models to create contemporary
literature, something often termed as a postmodern style.

Seth is an international writer, the kind who breaks national boundaries by

refusing to keep characters settled in one place. He has written books set in
India, England, USA, and also a travel book about China.
 If you don't know who Vikram Seth is, read on.

 Seth was born in Calcutta and pursued higher studies at Corpus

Christi College, Oxford, Stanford University and Nanjing University

 In 2006, Seth became a leader of the campaign against Section 377 of

the Indian Penal Code, a law against homosexuality

 Seth's A Suitable Boy is said to be one of the longest English novels

with around 5,93,674 words
 Vikram Seth's works:

 The Golden Gate, 1986

 A Suitable Boy, 1993

 An Equal Music, 1999

His Poetry:
 Mappings, 1980

 The Humble Administrator's Garden, 1985

 All You Who Sleep Tonight, 1990

 Beastly Tales, 1991

 Three Chinese Poets, 1992

 At Evening, 1993
 The Frog and the Nightingale, 1994

VIKRAM SETH: A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

Vikram Seth is a postmodern Indian writer who is a master of

many genres. He is a transnational writer having written his
immense variety of literary works while living in three
continents. He is a writer of the world whose works address
different countries and locations. He is a master of his art and
can write polished poetry with the same ease as he writes a
novel, a travelogue, a libretto or a children’s book. Although he
writes standard international English but he is a multilingual
polyglot who is equally at ease with a variety of languages like
Welsh, German, French, Mandarin, Urdu and Hindi. For him
the world is his stage and its people his characters no matter to
which nation, colour or background they belong. Seth is not
just restricted to themes of cultural displacement, search for
roots or diasporic dislocations but is a universal writer and
writes as the muse takes him. He once said, “if you are tapped
on the shoulder and inspired to do something, you don’t say,
‘my training isn’t in this’. I just let the imagination work”.
(Gupta p. 11) This article is an attempt to highlight Vikram
Seth as a citizen of the world. His international image is
reflected in the variety of his works and diverse themes. His
 works reach an audience beyond geographical or ideological
boundaries. His is the world and he belongs to the world.

AUTO BIOGRAPHY OF VIKRAM SETH

The Indian diaspora comprises of a variety of writers with a multiplicity of

religions, languages and cultures. The forms of writing by the writers in the
large literary commonwealth of The Indian Diaspora comprises of a variety of
writers with a multiplicity of religions, languages diasporic Indian writing
cannot be homogenized. Geographic borders have always been considered as
points where different national identities used to interact and immigration
posts were used to check their identities. But today the writers within the
new global migrancy are in need of redefining the spaces they are living in.
To understand the identity of any writer who has experienced global
migrancy one needs to go through the life history and geographic movement
of that particular writer. Vikram Seth is an internationally renowned writer.
He first introduced himself to the world as a poet with Mappings (1980). He
came into prominence with his next collection of poems entitled The Humble
Administrator’s Garden (1985) for which he was awarded the
Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Asia. All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990) and
Summer Requiem: books of poems (2015) are also amongst his famous
collection of poems. In 1986 he published his very popular novel in verse,
The Golden Gate, a novel consisting of 590 tetrameter sonnets with the
rhyme scheme aBaBccDDeFFeGG which was inspired by Pushkin’s Eugene
Onegin. His other major works include the following: A Suitable Boy (1993),
a tale of a Hindu family looking for a suitable husband for their daughter.
The setting is post-independence India of the 1950’s. This is the longest
single-volume novel ever published in English. An Equal Music (1999) is
European and is completely steeped in the tradition of the British novel
which Seth has written as a cultural insider. From Heaven Lake: Travels
through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983) is a travelogue which won him Thomas
Cook Travel Book Award. The number of awards he has achieved adds to his
highly acclaimed status as a writer. Among these are Commonwealth Poetry
Prize (Asia) for Humble Administrator’s Garden in 1985 , Sahitya Akademi
Award for the Golden Gate in 1988 , Irish Times International Fiction Prize
for A Suitable Boy in 1993 , Commonwealth Writers Prize for A Suitable
Boy , WH Smith Literary Award for A Suitable Boy , Crossword Book Award
for An Equal Music in 1999 , Order of the British Empire, Officer in 2001 ,
EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Book/Novel for
An Equal Music , Pravasi Bharatiya Samman in 2005 , Padma Shri in
Literature and Education and The 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In
India in 2013. His multicultural milieu adds to his artistic skills which has
helped him in bringing his English writings on to the stage of World
Literature. Seth is a master of many genres. He writes a polished poetry as
easily as he writes a children’s book, a libretto or a travelogue. To add to his
account is a book of translation of Chinese poems and various essays. He is
a master of his art. In the very beginning of his career Seth has objected to
being categorized. In a television interview with Meenakshi Mukherjee he
said that he was just a writer, not an Indian or a Commonwealth or any
other kind of writer. (Prasad p. 15) His works are based on and address
different locations. To understand his true identity one needs to have a look
at his life history and get an idea of the extent of his mobility. His works
gives a feel and rhythm of a particular place at a particular time. Seth could
easily move from medieval Chinese Poetry to San Francisco Yuppiedom and
from the Hindi belt in North India to the world of Britain and Vienna. This is
the essence of his multiculturalism. If The Golden Gate is pure California, A
Suitable Boy is North Indian and An Equal Music is British. He is a genius;
his is the world and he belongs to the world. To quote Seth, “The wish to
write about is such a rare and mysterious feeling that it is pointless to pre-
empt or constrain it by notions of subject or geography or genre… For good
or ill, one must take one’s visions as they come and be thankful for those
that survive”. (Gupta p. 11) Transnationalism is an important aspect of his
writing. He is not obsessed with the theme of cultural displacement,
diasporic dislocations or search for roots. He is one of those privileged
people who are fortunate enough to travel and make the world their own. He
is the first truly transnational writer. He writes in standard International
English and writes it well. Seth has experienced a significant amount of
inter-cultural mobility. Seth has lived in three continents and has written a
variety of literary works. As Seth says, “I have been quartered between
California, China, India and England”. (Gupta pg. 8) His interest in these
cultures is not of a mere observer who only wants to write but it is rather of
an interested learner who wants to get into the essence of all. Vikram Seth
takes his writing as a challenge and enjoys writing about diverse themes
and places. “I know from an editor’s point of view or a publisher’s point of
view it’s easier to slot me into a particular niche. But I know that I would be
bored unless I wrote a book that in some sense was a challenge. And this
might mean I vary the form by writing a poem or a play or a novel. Or set the
stories in different countries or write in the first person as opposed to the
third or in the present tense as opposed to the part or a very long novel as
opposed to a short note .

His novel An Equal Music (1999) comes under the category of international
literature. This novel is set in England which is outside his natal order.
Through this novel Seth eschews his localized status and set himself as a
writer of transnational identity. The story runs through London, Vienna and
Venice but the essence of the novel is music. It is a story of a musician
Michael Holme and his recovery of the self. The novel is about the
philosophy of universal humanism. The novel does not talk about the
cultural gaps or explore the issue of ambivalence. Rather An Equal Music
could be read as an attempt to interconnect different boundaries of
nationalism.

According to Bikhu Pareikh, “the Indian migrant can share and co-exist in
several homes simultaneously, and therefore distances need not necessarily
lead to sense of fragmentation and loss”. (Prasad p. 176). These lines
challenge the traditional view of geographical rootlessness leading to
alienation. For instance in the case of Vikram Seth one could find him
taking pleasure as a cultural traveler, he enjoys his experiences of having
multiple homes. He is a universal writer and is honest enough to follow his
inspiration. Seth once pointed that, “If you are tapped on the shoulder and
inspired to do something, you don’t say, ‘my training isn’t in this’. I just let
the imagination work”. (Gupta p. 11) He is a writer of different genres and
writes as the muse takes him

Namita Gokhale asserts that Vikram Seth is international and should be

appreciated as

“a writer about human beings, not as a peddler of Indian exotica . . . deeply

rooted in his specific Indian identity, Vikram Seth is yet a citizen of the
world in the best sense . . . His genius should be evaluated in his control
over his material, and in creating a credible world-in-itself which he can
cohabit and explore”

Vikram Seth seems to be at home at any part of the world. His account of
travel from his famous travelogue From Heaven Lake: Travels through
Sinkiang and Tibet is an apt example of him being a citizen of the world.
Ascending into the lost caves in Chinese temples or wading in to
underground canals, playing basketball with officials or Frisbee with
waiters, getting tranquility from the Chinese shrine and mosque and
enjoying the picnic with the Tibetan family. All these instances show and
address him as a person who can easily assimilate with the world and make
it their own.

He wrote this travelogue on his journey to his hometown Delhi from Beijing
via Tibet in 1981. Before setting out to Beijing, he enjoys a valedictory meal
with a friend which includes some Californian wine. This makes him
nostalgic for California and he recalls
 “…I recall drinking sherry in California and dreaming of England, where I
ate dalmoth and dreamed of Delhi. What is the purpose, I wonder, of all this
restlessness? I sometimes seem to myself to wander around the world
merely accumulating material for future nostalgias.”

Besides the literary value and the intrinsic details he has given in his
travelogue, one could also find his crafty observations which are very
charming. The following lines bear ample testimony of his human bonding
irrespective of their nationality, ethnicity or creed:

Here we three, cooped, alone, Tibetan, Indian, Han, Against a common dawn
Catch what poor sleep we can, And sleeping drag the same Sparse air into
our lungs, And dreaming each of home Sleeptalk in different tongues.
The concept of ‘home’ is different for international writers as they are caught
different social construct of a new world.
“Today’s identities are no longer about passports and birth certificates. In a
world without barriers you belong to where you are” asserts Namita Gokhale
Makarand Paranjpe argues that Seth “is an international writer who has
been both an NRI and RNI (resident non-Indian) but whether he has ever
been just an Indian is rather doubtful
He cannot be labeled as a writer of a particular genre or nation. His
international image, reflected in his creative works doesn’t allow us to do so.
When he was accused of not having found his voice, he replied, “the fact is
that at different stages of your life and under the influence of different
inspirations you write different things.”
His next work, Two Lives which is mostly biography and partly
autobiography is set mostly in Germany and England. It chronicles the lives
of two of the relatives of Seth, his great uncle Shanti Seth (Shanti Uncle) and
his German-Jewish wife Hennerle Caro (Aunt Henny). The book inhabits an
intercultural space (Anglo-Indian-German). Shanti and Vikram Seth belongs
to Indian culture by birth, to British and German culture because of
language and residence; Henny is German Jewish by birth and native
language, British by residence and adoptive language and Indian by
marriage. The multi cultural and multi-lingual go hand in hand. Two Lives
can be seen as a work of literature which affirms the vital need of
coexistence and understanding of individuals and peoples no matter to
which nationality or ethnicity they belong. Seth closes his Two Lives with
these lines
‘May we not be as foolish as we are almost bound to be. If we cannot eschew
hatred, atleast let us eschew group hatred. May we see that we could have
been born as each other
Seth’s perspective is that of a globalised Indian. He views the world through
a prism which may be multicolored but is one. He himself is a polyglot and a
multi-lingual. He has a mastery over a variety of languages such as Welsh,
German and French, Mandarin, English, Urdu and Hindi. He no longer
perceives his writing as Third World, subaltern or post colonial but a
literature of the world. Seth treats the world as his stage and all the people
in it as his characters. He doesn’t care to which nation, colour or
background they belong. His work reaches an audience beyond spatial or
ideological location. With each work he has moved to a different
geographical and cultural location. He is an international writer who belongs
to the world and thus can be called a citizen of the world.