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Published Jun 2009
240 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Paperback Original
Written with rare literary style by a former director of the Indian Ministry of Coal, The Sound of Water provides an agonizing 360-degree account of an Indian mining disaster as seen from three perspectives: an old miner struggling to save himself and his coworkers hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth as water threatens to drown them; the company and government officials charged with managing the rescue efforts; and the miners' families anxiously awaiting word of survival or death.
The Sound of Water is a searing fictional exposé of the appalling conditions that Indian miners endure and a moving story of the spiritual strength and conviction that enables one to survive against the odds. Despite the despair, futility, and negatives, it is a story about those who find their own redemption in an impossible situation and liberation from elements that throttle life.
"This revealing, moving and well-written debut offers a dramatic, engaging lens through which to view an endlessly complex country." - Kirkus Reviews
"This book should be made required reading for every bureaucrat, politician and schoolchild in this country." - India Today
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sanjay Bahadur has advanced degrees in economics and business administration and has been a member of the Indian Civil Service since 1989. From 2000 to 2004 he was a director in the Indian Ministry of Coal, where he observed the Bagdihi disaster close-up; today he works in Goa, where he is Additional Commissioner of Income Tax. He is hard at work on his second novel, which will be set during the Great Indian Revolt of 1857. The Sound of Water was longlisted for the Asian Booker Prize.
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