Which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree, is the first book originally written in any Indian language to win the International Booker Prize. 2. Tomb of Sand is the first novel translated from Hindi to be given the International Booker Prize. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. Tomb of Sand is Daisy Rockwell's English translation of Geetanjali Shree's Hindi novel Ret Samadhi, and it took the International Booker Prize in 2022. Both statements describe the same first from two angles, and both hold. It was the first work originally written in any Indian language to win that prize, and since the language it was written in was Hindi, it was also the first Hindi novel to win. The prize goes to a single book translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland, and the fifty thousand pounds is split equally between author and translator — so Shree and Rockwell shared it. Since this paper was set the record has moved on but not been overturned: in 2025 Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, became the second Indian-language winner and the first from Kannada, which leaves both of these statements standing.
- (a)1 only — Accepts the wider claim and rejects the narrower one that follows from it. If Tomb of Sand was the first winner in any Indian language, and it was written in Hindi, then it was necessarily the first Hindi winner too.
- (b)2 only — The reverse mistake. Statement 2 is true, but a candidate choosing this must believe some other Indian language had won earlier, which would contradict it — no Indian-language work had taken the prize before 2022.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Rejects a well-documented result. The 2022 International Booker went to Tomb of Sand, and it was reported everywhere as the first Indian-language winner of that prize.
The International Booker Prize and the Booker Prize are separate awards. The Booker Prize proper goes to a novel originally written in English; the International Booker goes to a single book translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland, and its fifty thousand pounds is divided equally between the author and the translator. That equal split is the design feature worth remembering, because it is what makes the translator a joint winner rather than a footnote. Before 2016 the award had a different shape altogether — it went every two years to a living author for a whole body of work.
The two statements here are not independent, and spotting that is the quickest route to the answer. Statement 1 is the broader claim and statement 2 is contained inside it, so they must stand or fall together, which rules out both of the 'only' options at a stroke. That leaves a choice between both and neither, and one remembered fact settles it. A related caution for the exam hall: do not confuse this with the Booker Prize for English-language fiction, which Indian writers had won long before — that is a different prize with a different rulebook.
- Tomb of Sand is Daisy Rockwell's translation of Geetanjali Shree's Hindi novel Ret Samadhi; it won the International Booker Prize in 2022.
- It was the first novel in any Indian language to win the prize.
- The International Booker is awarded annually for a single translated work, and the fifty thousand pound purse is split equally between author and translator.
- Before 2016, as the Man Booker International, it went every two years to a living author for a body of work.
- In 2025 Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, became the second Indian-language winner and the first Kannada one.
Because statement 2 sits inside statement 1, the two can only be true together or false together.
- Treating the two statements as independent when one is contained in the other.
- Confusing the International Booker with the Booker Prize for fiction written in English.
- Forgetting that the translator is a joint winner, which is often the tested detail.
As a two-statement item on a literary first, as a book-to-author match, or as a straight question on who won a given year's prize and from which language.
Georgi Gospodinov Georgiev won the International Booker Prize, 2023 for the darkly comic novel by the name:
- (a) The Promise
- (b) Shuggie Bain
- (c) Time Shelter
- (d) Girl, Woman, Other
Answer(c) Time Shelter
The very next winner, asked in the very next session — the same prize two papers running, which is a fair signal to keep the recent list of International Booker titles ready. That item also mixes in two Booker Prize winners as decoys, the confusion this card warns about.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The International Booker Prize money is
- (a)given entirely to the author
- (b)given entirely to the translator
- (c)split equally between author and translator
- (d)split between the author and the publisher
Answer(c) split equally between author and translator — which is why Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell were joint winners in 2022.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Ret Samadhi, the novel published in English as Tomb of Sand, was originally written in
- (a)Bengali
- (b)Hindi
- (c)Kannada
- (d)Malayalam
Answer(b) Hindi — Geetanjali Shree wrote it in Hindi and Daisy Rockwell translated it.