Suri spoke to an audience of more than 100 people on Tuesday. His presentation, 鈥淐apturing India,鈥� was organized by the 麻豆原创 Global Perspectives Office as a part of the 2010-2011 鈥淚ndia Speaker Series.鈥�

Writing novels is a hobby for Suri, who was named by Time magazine as a 鈥淧erson to Watch鈥� in 2000. Fiction is as useful as non-fiction, he said, noting they both have the power to provide a 鈥渒aleidoscope of different feelings, characters and events that might emerge from a culture or country.鈥�

Suri told the audience that while growing up in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, he noticed a constant mingling of new and old traditions. He intends for his novels to be a snapshot of India and Indian life.

His first novel, 鈥淭he Death of Vishnu,鈥� recounts the fight over space in an apartment building in Mumbai. His second novel, 鈥淭he Age of Shiva,鈥� focuses on India鈥檚 historical development and is largely based on Suri鈥檚 parents鈥� experience in post-independence India.

鈥淭he Age of Shiva鈥� is about women asserting themselves in a male-dominated society and India鈥檚 鈥済rowing up鈥� and coming out in the international sphere, he said.

Suri said he had no intention of writing a trilogy from the outset, but found through research that his first novel鈥檚 main character roughly embodied one of the gods of the Hindu trinity. The theme lent itself to a second book, and a third that will focus on India鈥檚 future is in the works.

His forthcoming novel will be set in the future, and will include Suri’s ideas of what India’s future might look like.

Suri also spoke to the audience about the ongoing clash in India between tradition and modernity. In India, Suri said, it is hard to tell where religion starts and culture ends.

In addition to the Global Perspectives Office, sponsors and partners of this event included The India Program at 麻豆原创, The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, LarsonAllen LLP, the 麻豆原创 Global Peace and Security Studies Program, the 麻豆原创 Political Science Department, the 麻豆原创 International Services Center, 麻豆原创 LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.

Manil Suri will speak about the challenge of capturing the essence of his homeland in his novels.

鈥淐apturing India鈥� will begin at 3 p.m. in the Key West Ballroom of the Student Union. The event, organized by the 麻豆原创 Global Perspectives Office, is part of the 2010-2011 鈥淚ndia Speaker Series.鈥� It is free and open to the public.

For Suri, a native of Mumbai, his novels represent an opportunity to showcase India鈥檚 complex and multilayered society.

His first novel, 鈥淭he Death of Vishnu,鈥� won the 2002 Barnes and Noble Discover Prize and was a finalist for the 2002 Pen-Faulkner Award. His second novel, 鈥淭he Age of Shiva,鈥� was released in 2008 in the United States, the U.K. and India.

He was named by Time magazine as a 鈥淧erson to Watch鈥� in 2000 and received a Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction in 2004. Suri鈥檚 fiction has been translated into 24 languages.

In addition to the Global Perspectives Office, sponsors and partners include The India Program at 麻豆原创, The Anil and Chitra Deshpande India Program Endowed Fund, Lawrence J. Chastang and the Chastang Foundation, LarsonAllen LLP, the 麻豆原创 Global Peace and Security Studies Program, the 麻豆原创 Political Science Department, the 麻豆原创 International Services Center, 麻豆原创 LIFE and the Global Connections Foundation.