India donates $10,000 to Naipaul House

High Commissioner of India Arun Kumar Sahu donated a $10,000 cheque to the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Friends of Mr Biswas.

The NGO was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to manage the Naipaul House at Nepal Street, St James as a museum and international study library.

Sahu made the donation on Friday at a ceremony remembering the late VS Naipaul at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Cultural Co-operation in Mt Hope.

He said the Trinidadian-born author is recognised in India as a prominent figure in Caribbean writing. Naipaul was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2001.

“In my first official reception address on September 5, 2019…I had mentioned three names: Dr Eric Williams, Sir VS Naipaul, and Brian Lara,” said Sahu. “There was a reason. In India, Naipaul is bound to raise his head when one talks of the Caribbean writings and literature in an intellectual circle.”

Sahu said Naipaul himself yearned to discover his roots and travelled to India for the first time in 1962. Naipaul recorded his experiences in India in works including An Area of Darkness; India: A Wounded Civilization; and India: A Million Mutinies Now.

“In the process, he wrote a dynamic oral history of India…One of the attributes of a great creator is accepting his limitations, and with each creation, Naipaul did just that.”

Sahu said students of English literature in India are required to read Naipaul’s work.

“In modern literary history of the South Asian subcontinent, the study of Caribbean diaspora writings begins with Naipaul’s. In that context, Naipaul’s writings, especially his A House for Mr Biswas, have attained timelessness.”

Sahu described his visit to the Nepal Street house-turned-museum as a "cinematic" experience.

“For me, it was a lifetime opportunity to discover one of the great creative minds of the twentieth century. We Indians are very proud of his achievements."

He said he was honoured as high commissioner to donate to the museum’s upkeep and maintenance. “I hope Naipaul’s legacy will continue to inspire the younger generation of the Caribbean to aspire for greatness.”

Collecting the cheque on behalf of Friends of Mr Biswas was chairman Prof Kenneth Ramchand.