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8 hours ago
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- Scroll.in
Zara Chowdhary wins the Shakti Bhatt Prize in its final year for her memoir ‘The Lucky Ones'
Zara Chowdhary was awarded the 2025 Shakti Bhatt Prize for her debut work, The Lucky Ones. Her memoir examines her family's trauma to document three months of sectarian violence in her hometown of Ahmedabad. Set during the 2002 riots, when Chowdhary was just 16, it is also the story of a trapped, severely dysfunctional family caught up in the tides of Indian history. Chowdhary will receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. The Shakti Bhatt Prize will be discontinued after this year's award. Originally called The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, in later years it became a prize that honoured a writer's body of work. However, this year the prize ended the way it began in 2008 – by awarding a debut author. For 17 years, the Shakti Bhatt Prize has recognised literature from the South Asian subcontinent, giving the award to writers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India. Administered, judged, curated and funded by writers, the Prize was independent and did not involve any corporate sponsors. The Shakti Bhatt Foundation, which set up the prize, has received financial contributions from author and journalist TJS George, journalist Sheela Bhatt, and academic Thomas Kailath. The Shakti Bhatt Prize complete list of winners over the years: Mohammed Hanif, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, 2008 Mridula Koshy, If It Is Sweet, 2009 Samanth Subramanian, Following Fish, 2010 Jamil Ahmad, The Wandering Falcon, 2011 Naresh Fernandes, Taj Mahal Foxtrot, 2012 Nilanjana Roy, The Wildings, 2013 Bilal Tanweer, The Scatter Here is Too Great, 2014 Rohini Mohan, The Seasons of Trouble, 2015 Akshaya Mukul, Gita Press and the Making of India, 2016 Anuk Arudpragasam, The Story of a Brief Marriage, 2017 Sujatha Gidla, Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India, 2018 Tony Joseph, Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From, 2019 Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, Body of Work, 2020 The Shakti Bhatt Foundation did not award a literary prize in 2021, and instead made a donation towards Covid-19 relief work Manoranjan Byapari, Body of Work, 2022 CS Lakshmi (Ambai), Body of Work, 2023 Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih, Body of Work, 2024 Zara Chowdhary, The Lucky Ones, 2025
The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Zara Chowdhary wins 2025 Shakti Bhatt award for debut memoir
Zara Chowdhary has won the 2025 Shakti Bhatt award for her debut memoir The Lucky Ones. Ms. Chowdhary is a writer, producer, and educator from Chennai, India. She spent her first decade as an adult working in film, advertising and media production. The book mines generational family trauma to document three months of sectarian violence in Ms. Chowdhary's hometown Ahmedabad during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Her account, when she was just 16, is also the story of a trapped, severely dysfunctional family caught up in the tides of Indian history. Prize to be discontinued Meanwhile, the Shakti Bhatt Foundation said the Prize would be discontinued after this year's award. 'We are pleased to end the prize the way it began, in 2008, by awarding a debut author,' an official statement issued by the foundation said. Originally called The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, in later years it became a prize that honoured a writer's body of work. For 17 years, the prize recognised and celebrated literature from the South Asian subcontinent, awarding writers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and every corner of India, it said. 'The Shakti Bhatt Foundation which set up the prize would not have succeeded without the financial backing of senior journalist, author and Padma Bhushan recipient TJS George, and contributions from journalist Sheela Bhatt and Hitachi America Professor of Engineering emeritus at Stanford University and Padma Bhushan awardee, Professor Thomas Kailath and author Arshia Sattar,' the statement added. Some of the earlier awardees include Mohammed Hanif (A Case of Exploding Mangoes, 2008), Mridula Koshy (If It Is Sweet, 2009), Akshaya Mukul (Gita Press and the Making of India, 2016), Tony Joseph (Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From, 2019) and Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha (Body of Work, 2020).
