Naipaul cremated after private funeral

Sir Vidia Naipaul was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 2001. Reuters
Sir Vidia Naipaul was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 2001. Reuters

SAVI NAIPAUL AKAL responded with an abrupt “I have nothing to say,” when asked yesterday if she had been told about last Wednesday’s funeral for her brother, Nobel laureate Sir Vidia Naipaul.

Throughout the weeks of public tribute since his death on August 11 in his adopted home, England, the Naipaul family in Trinidad has been reticent about the funeral, which was by invitation only.

Contacted by Newsday yesterday, Akal, 80, of Valsayn, bluntly refused to comment. She had earlier told Newsday she and her sisters had not yet been invited or given details of the funeral.

Her surviving sisters, Nella and Mira (Kamla is deceased), live in the United States and England respectively.

They did not respond to messages as to whether they attended the funeral, held in the West Chapel of the West London crematorium in Kensal Green cemetery on the morning of August 22.

But one family member, who requested anonymity, told Newsday that it was left up to the world-acclaimed author’s wife, Lady Nadira, to invite his close family. The Trinidad-based relative commented, “I cannot say if the three surviving sisters were invited to his funeral. If they were, the word did not get around.”

The Telegraph (India) carried a story on Friday saying Naipaul’s long physical and literary journey, from his birthplace via India, the land of his forefathers, to England, ended on Wednesday at the crematorium. He died at 85, having written 30 books which won him the Nobel Prize for literature in 2001. He would have turned 86 on August 17.

The Telegraph story said the service was attended by approximately 100 people who were very close friends of the author, and a few close relatives. Lady Naipaul was also present, as was the novelist Evelyn Waugh’s grandson Alexander, a critic and journalist.

The paper said the service was a non-religious affair, although Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig, who had a leading role, read a few lines from the Bhagavad Gita.

Born a Hindu, Naipaul, whose grandparents who came from India and settled in Chaguanas, was a noted agnostic who publicly declared he had no religion.

The newspaper said literary associates from the US also flew to London to attend.

Among them were newspaper publisher Sonny Mehta and his author wife Gita. The reporter, Amit Roy, also commented: “The author would have been relieved the majority of mourners were white.”

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