Anita Desai belongs to a new literary custom of Indian writing in English, which dates back to the 30’s or 40’s. She elucidates that this is because at one time all literature was recited rather than read and that continues to be the tradition in India. After her marriage in 1958 she started publishing her works. Desai has won numerous awards, including the 1978 Nation Academy of Letters Award for Fire on the Mountain, Guardian Prize for Children’s Fiction in 1983 for ‘The Village by the sea’ and the literary Lion Award in 1993.

Anita Desai is recognized for her studies of Indian life. All her literary works, be it her novels, children’s books or short stories, focus on personal hardships and tribulations of existing life that her Indian characters must survive with. Desai is endowed with the power of observation, intense sensitiveness combined with an equally acute penetrating analytical mind. She plays with words to create a range of characters both male and female. But it is her female characters who she savours more. She holds wide acclamation for her studies of Indian Life and acknowledged as a keen observer of human race. She superbly presents the concoction of western and eastern cultures in the country and is known for her eclectic discernment of academic issues.

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