Nina Sibal

Nina Sibal (1948 – 2000) was an Indian diplomat and

writer, known for her prize-winning novel Yatra and other
English-language fiction as well as for her work in the
Indian Foreign Service.
:
 Nina Sibal

Born 1948
Pune
Died 2000
Occupation Indian Foreign
Service
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Delhi University
Genres Short story,
novel
Spouse Kapil Sibal
:
 Biography
She was born in Pune[1] to an Indian father and Greek
mother.[2] After an MA in English at Delhi University (in
Miranda House) she lectured there for three years. She
also qualified in law and studied French. In 1972 Sibal
joined the Indian Foreign Service and started work at the
United Nations in New York City. Later she told a
journalist that this threw her into "the deepest culture
shock".[2] Other postings included Cairo and three years
as deputy director-general of the Indian Council for
Cultural Relations. In 1992 she became India's
permanent delegate to UNESCO in Paris, and went to
New York in 1995 to be director of its liaison office there.
[3]

She was married to the lawyer and politician Kapil Sibal

with whom she had two sons. While both spouses
pursued demanding careers they maintained a
"transcontinental" marriage according to politician,
diplomat and writer Shashi Tharoor.[4] She died from
breast cancer[4] in New York in June 2000.[5] A Nina
Sibal Memorial Award was endowed by her husband. The
All India Women's Education Fund Association gives the
award annually to an individual who plays a leading role in
:
 an organisation using innovative methods to help
disabled and disadvantaged children.[6]

Writing
Sibal's fiction was noticed in 1985 when her short story
What a blaze of glory won an Asiaweek short story
competition.[1] It was later included in an anthology called
Prize Winning Asian Fiction published in 1991.[7]

Yatra, a novel published in 1987, covers more than a

century in the life of a Sikh family. Their movements over
time reflect the title: "Yatra" means journey or pilgrimage.
[1]
Critics comment on the book's magical realism,
especially with respect to one character's changing skin
colour, and make comparisons with Salman Rushdie's
Midnight's Children.[1] The author uses mythical
elements in her story.[8] Themes include the Chipko
movement, the history of the Punjab, the origin of Bangla
Desh, and the heroine's search for a father.[9] The novel
can be criticised for being too crowded with multiple
themes,[1] but overall it was generally well received. It
won the 1987 International Grand Prix for Literature in
Algiers.[1]

The Secret Life of Gujjar Mal, Sibal's collection of short

:
 stories, was published in 1991. The stories are set in a
variety of different countries, some of them disguised
with fictional names: Mulgary echoes Bulgaria during the
cold war, for example.[2] These settings are not used
simply as political or colourful backgrounds but are
intertwined with the lives and emotions of the characters.
[2]
As well as the title story the collection contains six
other stories: By his death, Swimming, The face of
Dadarao, Fur boots, Sanctuary and The man who seeks
enlightenment.[10]

Her 1998 novel, The Dogs of Justice, is set in Kashmir

and tells the story of a rich Muslim girl. It was less well-
received than Sibal's previous two books, with one critic
saying it did not live up to the promise of the earlier
works.[1]

Works

Yatra: the journey, Women's

Press, 1987,
ISBN 9780704350090
:
 The secret life of Gujjar Mal
and other stories, Women's
Press, 1991.
ISBN 9780704342712
The Dogs of Justice (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=Aab
zkmYFn8wC&pg=PP334) .
Orient Blackswan. 1998.
pp. 334–. ISBN 978-81-7530-
021-7.

See also

List of Indian writers

Tapan Kumar Pradhan
:
 Mandakranta Sen

References

1. Shyamala A. Narayan, "Sibal,

Nina" (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=nGfMAgAAQBAJ)
in Encyclopedia of Post-
Colonial Literatures in English,
eds Eugene Benson, L. W.
Conolly, Routledge, 2004, p
1473.
2. Maya Jaggi in The Guardian, 22
October 1991: "Maya Jaggi
finds out why diplomat-cum-
writer Nina Sibal feels her
worlds are not so far apart".
:
 3. "Miranda House obituary" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20170
510071252/http://www.mirand
ahouse.ac.in/MirandaHouse/Us
erSpace/UserName/admin/Dyn
amicFolder/2006-2007/Alumn
ae/AlumniBioProfile_Ninasibal.h
tm) . Archived from the original
(http://www.mirandahouse.ac.i
n/MirandaHouse/UserSpace/U
serName/admin/DynamicFolde
r/2006-2007/Alumnae/Alumni
BioProfile_Ninasibal.htm) on
10 May 2017. Retrieved
7 August 2016.
4. Shashi Tharoor, The Elephant,
:
 the Tiger, and the Cell Phone:
Reflections on India,, the
Emerging 21st-century Power (
https://books.google.com/book
s?id=uqvpZutXN7cC&pg=PA2
54) , Penguin, 2007, p. 254.
5. "Nina Sibal dead" (http://www.t
hehindu.com/2000/07/01/stori
es/0201000j.htm) , The Hindu,
1 July 2000.
6. Nina Sibal Memorial Award (htt
p://aiwefa.org/aiwefa-nina-sibal
-memorial-awards/) , All India
Women's Education Fund.
7. Leon Comber (ed.), Prize
Winning Asian Fiction (https://b
:
 ooks.google.com/books?id=Wt
5iAAAAMAAJ) , Times Books,
1991.
8. Chandra Nisha Singh, Radical
Feminism and Women's
Writing: Only So Far and No
Further (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=-0zLyqVqL8Q
C) , Atlantic, 2007,
9. Ray and Kundu, Studies in
Women Writers in English (http
s://books.google.com/books?id
=Ryn28K7m6ucC) , Volume 3,
Atlantic, 2005, p. 224.
10. Stanford University Library. (htt
ps://searchworks.stanford.edu/
:
 view/1857081)

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