{"id":2,"date":"2017-05-11T06:11:13","date_gmt":"2017-05-11T06:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/githahariharan.com\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2026-04-22T06:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T06:50:21","slug":"githhariharan-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/githahariharan.com\/","title":{"rendered":"Githa Hariharan \u2013 Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row content_placement=”middle” css=”.vc_custom_1727768644006{padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #ebe5e5 !important;}”][vc_column width=”2\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726054239162{padding-top: 42px !important;padding-right: 50px !important;padding-bottom: 40px !important;padding-left: 36px !important;background-color: #ebe5e5 !important;}” offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1765868724725{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}” el_class=”intro”]Githa Hariharan<\/a> has written novels, short fiction and essays over the last four\u00a0decades.<\/p>\n

Her highly acclaimed work includes the novels The Thousand Faces of Night<\/a> which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book in 1993, The Ghosts of Vasu Master<\/a>, When Dreams Travel<\/a>, Fugitive Histories<\/a> and I Have Become the Tide<\/a>, which has also been published in Malayalam<\/a>, Kannada<\/a>, Tamil<\/a>, Marathi<\/a> and Telugu<\/a> translations. She is the author of the short story collection The Art of Dying<\/a> and the essay collection Almost Home: Cities and Other Places<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She has also written children\u2019s stories<\/a>, and edited a collection of translated short fiction, A Southern Harvest<\/a>, the essay collection From India to Palestine: Essays in Solidarity<\/a> and co-edited Battling for India: A Citizen\u2019s Reader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her most recent publications include the edited collection of conversations, This Too is India: Conversations on Diversity and Dissent<\/a>, and the collection of stories and poems co-edited with K. Satchidanandan, The View from Here: Stories and Poems of Many Indias<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hariharan has, over the years, been a cultural commentator through her essays, lectures and activism. She was a founding trustee of the Indian Writers Forum<\/a> from 2015 to 2022. In 1995, Hariharan challenged the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act as discriminatory against women. The case, Githa Hariharan and Another vs. Reserve Bank of India and Another<\/a>, led to a landmark Supreme Court judgment in 1999 on guardianship.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1498475016879{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;background-color: #060606 !important;}” offset=”vc_col-lg-offset-0 vc_col-md-offset-0 vc_col-sm-offset-4″][vc_single_image image=”2298″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”https:\/\/githahariharan.com\/?page_id=124″ css=”.vc_custom_1742372197081{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs” css=”.vc_custom_1497006174181{margin-top: 30px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1498392683167{padding-left: 12px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

\u201cAn outstanding writer.\u201d<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0J.M. Coetzee<\/span><\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md” css=”.vc_custom_1497682404105{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;background-color: #6e1a0f !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1498392730134{padding-left: 12px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

\u201cAn outstanding writer.\u201d<\/span>
\n\u00a0J.M. Coetzee<\/span><\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-lg vc_hidden-md” css=”.vc_custom_1495201612389{padding-top: 35px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 50px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1765868759599{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}” el_class=”intro”]Githa Hariharan<\/a> has written novels, short fiction and essays over the last four\u00a0decades.<\/p>\n

Her highly acclaimed work includes the novels The Thousand Faces of Night<\/a> which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book in 1993, The Ghosts of Vasu Master<\/a>, When Dreams Travel<\/a>, Fugitive Histories<\/a> and I Have Become the Tide<\/a>, which has also been published in Malayalam<\/a>, Kannada<\/a>, Tamil<\/a>, Marathi<\/a> and Telugu<\/a> translations. She is the author of the short story collection The Art of Dying<\/a> and the essay collection Almost Home: Cities and Other Places<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She has also written children\u2019s stories<\/a>, and edited a collection of translated short fiction, A Southern Harvest<\/a>, the essay collection From India to Palestine: Essays in Solidarity<\/a> and co-edited Battling for India: A Citizen\u2019s Reader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her most recent publications include the edited collection of conversations, This Too is India: Conversations on Diversity and Dissent<\/a>, and the collection of stories and poems co-edited with K. Satchidanandan, The View from Here: Stories and Poems of Many Indias<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hariharan has, over the years, been a cultural commentator through her essays, lectures and activism. She was a founding trustee of the Indian Writers Forum<\/a> from 2015 to 2022. In 1995, Hariharan challenged the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act as discriminatory against women. The case, Githa Hariharan and Another vs. Reserve Bank of India and Another<\/a>, led to a landmark Supreme Court judgment in 1999 on guardianship.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1495709162931{padding-left: 15px !important;}” el_class=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Essays & Stories<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1495802780618{margin-bottom: 40px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;}” el_class=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column width=”7\/12″ offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text]\"\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Remembering Scheherazade<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]I have always been fascinated by Scheherazade. Going by the evidence, this is a fascination shared by many others over the centuries.<\/p>\n

The story is irresistible. There is a man who rules, as so many have done and as so many do.<\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/12″ offset=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text]\"\"[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Learning another Ramayana in Bangkok<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]There is a sharp self-reflexive question at the end of some versions of the Ramayana: \u201cHow many Ramayanas have there been?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column offset=”vc_hidden-md vc_hidden-sm vc_hidden-xs” css=”.vc_custom_1497006225357{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1498392768423{padding-left: 12px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

“All my work looks at power politics in some way or the other.”\u00a0<\/span> \u00a0Githa Hariharan<\/span><\/p>\n

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Books<\/h2>\n

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