It's hard on writers when the prize money comes in a sealed envelope, especially when the award-givers studiously avoid all mention of cash. Kamala Das, one of the three winners of a new book award for South Asian Masters (others: Vijay Tendulkar and Bangladeshi poet Shamsur Rahman) set up by TLM (The Little Magazine), was not too impressed with the trophy specially created by sculptor K.S. Radhakrishnan. After resisting temptation for a while, she bravely slit open the red gold-embossed envelope. She couldn't have been disappointed: the prize was a lakh each as the tlm mentioned almost as an afterthought.
Upamanyu Chatterjee seems destined to be stuck with the label: author, English, August. The MC at the TLM awards nite, Girish Karnad, had a hard time recalling his name when he had to call Upamanyu on stage to take a bow as jury member. He struggled for a few moments, then came out triumphantly with: "Will the famous author of English, August please come up?"
