Mumbai (Commonwealth Union)_ Sanjana Thakur, a 26-year-old writer hailing from Mumbai, emerged victorious among more than 7,359 participants globally, securing the GBP 5,000 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for 2024 in London. Sanjana titled her story ‘Aishwarya Rai’, drawing inspiration from the renowned Bollywood actress, to creatively reinterpret and reverse the conventional adoption narrative. Accordingly, all the regional winning stories of the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize have been published by the literary magazine ‘Granta‘.
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Thakur expressed her profound gratitude for receiving the prestigious award, stating, “I cannot express how wholly honored I am to be the recipient of this incredible prize. I hope I continue writing stories that people want to read.” She further conveyed, “For my strange story — about mothers and daughters, about bodies, beauty standards, and Bombay street food — to find such a global audience is thrilling. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
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Thakur reflected on her upbringing and explained that she had spent 10 years of her life in countries other than her own. She described India, her homeland, as a place that was both strange and familiar, accepting and rejecting. She expressed that writing stories helped her come to terms with the fact that Mumbai was a city she would yearn for even while being there; it allowed her to redefine place within her mind. In her story, a young woman named Avni faces a choice among prospective mothers at a local shelter, reviewing their suitability. Avni idealizes one who resembles the Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai, finding flaws in others while dreaming of a more glamorous life.
The chair of the judging panel, Ugandan British novelist Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, remarked that the short story tends to favor writers who are courageous and daring. She noted that in ‘Aishwarya Rai’, Sanjana Thakur used brutal irony, sarcasm, cynicism, and wry humor presented in concise prose and stanza-like paragraphs to address the fragmentation of family and self in contemporary urban life. Makumbi observed further, saying that regardless of one’s city of residence, people often experience stress-related ailments such as insomnia, restless legs, panic attacks, and an obsession with idealized celebrity beauty, particularly in Bollywood. Makumbi noted that Thakur extended this biting absurdity to the point of proposing the hiring of mothers to replace inadequate ones. She added that satire is seldom executed with such ease and effectiveness.
Judge O Thiam Chin, representing the Asia region, added, “The power of Sanjana Thakur’s story reminds us that the best of fiction peels back the hard skin of life and grants us the privilege of feeling every flutter and pulse of its raw, quivering heart.” Beyond Mumbai, this year’s winning stories transport readers from Trinidad to New Zealand, traversing themes of love, loss, familial strife, and personal passions, with narratives extending from historical events like the 2023 Canadian wildfires to transformative moments in remote Trinidadian villages with the advent of electricity.
Sanjana Thakur’s achievement not only underscores her literary prowess but also celebrates the rich diversity of narratives within the global literary community. Her success with ‘Aishwarya Rai’ resonates as a testament to the power of storytelling in capturing universal truths amidst the complexities of contemporary life. As her story continues to captivate readers worldwide, it reaffirms the enduring relevance and impact of literature in reflecting and shaping cultural landscapes across borders.
