The results came out on January 1, 2000. And then came a call from BBC, asking us why Sarat Chandra had won the top place, the opportunity to share with the world audience our belief that Indian literature is not confined to Indo-Anglian literature which is receiving kudos thanks to writers like Salman Rushdie and Arundati Roy and Amitava Ghosh and Vikram Seth and others of this genre, that every Indian language has its finest literary giants whose work await to be discovered by the world audience. That needs good translators, who shall act as bridges of understanding between the original language and the languages into which they are translated. And unless our greatest literary works do not get into European languages, Asian literature shall never get its rightful place in the treasure trove of literature. And till that happens, writers from India, as much as from Asia and Africa, who deserve the Nobel Prize shall be denied their share of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Nobody can deny that fact.
We know what needs to be done to get more recognition for our writers. Knowing what needs to be done is only the first step. The realization takes us nowhere unless we follow it up with positive action. The action cannot be confined to one group or another. It has to be taken up by everyone concerned with the future of Indian literature.