Summary Of The Book Listening To Grasshoppers: Field Notes On Democracy, published in 2010, is a collection of eleven essays written by the author about the failures of Indian democracy. With razor-sharp analysis, Roy looks into past events to show the fault lines of this nation.
This book says that the Gujarat riots in 2002 was a genocide committed by the state government. Roy examines how the rise in Hindu nationalism promotes anti-Muslim sentiments amongst Indians. She further states that Muhammad Afzal Guru, the mastermind behind the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian parliament, has been framed. The author goes on to examine the misuse of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) by the government against minorities. As her radical analysis moves from one essay to the next, Listening To Grasshoppers: Field Notes On Democracy shows readers the dark side of the world’s largest democracy. The book throws light on Operation Green Hunt, a step by the government to put a stop to Naxalism. The author says that Naxals are only defending their land, and the government should put a stop to these attacks.
Further, a section of the book focuses on the 2008 Kashmir uprising against India’s military occupation. The 26/11 attacks on Mumbai in 2008 is also analysed in this book. This book puts together the tales of corruption, discrimination, starvation, and break down of the Indian system. These powerful essays critically examine what lies beneath the surface of Indian democracy.
Listening To Grasshoppers is written with conviction, rage, and, courage. The book ends with ‘The Briefing’, a prediction by the author that a global catastrophe will take place if the world doesn’t mend its ways. These essays have been written between 2002 to 2008, and have previously been published in various newspapers and magazines.
About Arundhati Roy Arundhati Roy, born in 1961, is an Indian author and activist. She started her career writing screenplays for television shows and films. The God Of Small Things, Roy’s first novel, was published in 1997, and reached fourth position on the New York Times Bestsellers list for Independent Fiction. In two months, it had been sold in over fifteen countries, and was named as one of the five best books of 1997 by TIME magazine. The same annum, the book also held a position as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Arundhati Roy was awarded the Man-Booker Prize for The God Of Small Things.
Some other works by the author are The Cost of Living, The Checkbook and the Cruise Missile: Conversations with Arundhati Roy, Power Politics, and War Talk. Roy is actively involved in anti-globalization movements. She is a supporter for Kashmir’s independence from India. Roy has also campaigned against the Narmada dam project, and is critical of the Indian government's nuclear policies. The author has also slammed Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign. In 2002, she was awarded the Cultural Freedom Prize awarded by the Lannan Foundation. She is the recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize in 2004 for her work in social campaigns and advocacy of nonviolence. She was given the Sahitya Akademi award in 2006 for the Algebra of Infinite Justice, but she declined it. Roy was awarded the Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing in 2011. The author lives in New Delhi.
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Listening to the grasshopper (Award-Winning Authors' Books)
Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author. She is best known for her novel The God of Small Things (1997), which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997. This novel became the biggest-selling book by a non expatriate Indian author. She is also a political activist involved in human rights and environmental causes. In November 2011, she was awarded the Norman Mailer Prize for Distinguished Writing. Suzanna Arundhati Roy was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in May 2004 for her work in social campaigns and her advocacy of non-violence.Roy was featured in the 2014 list of Time 100, the 100 most influential people in the world.
