SSC
Who is the author of 'Rich Like Us'?
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Answer: Option D — Nayantara Sahgal
Detailed Solution
"Rich Like Us" is a novel by Nayantara Sahgal, published in 1985. It won the Sahitya Akademi Award (1986) and the Sinclair Prize for Fiction (1985).
About the novel:
- It is set in Delhi during the Emergency (1975-77), declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
- It tells the story of two women: Sonali, an honest civil servant who is demoted because she refuses to support a corrupt project, and Rose, an Englishwoman married to a rich Indian businessman.
- Through their lives, the novel criticises the corruption, misuse of power and loss of freedom during the Emergency, and contrasts them with the ideals of the freedom struggle.
About Nayantara Sahgal:
She was born in 1927 in Allahabad. She is the daughter of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (Jawaharlal Nehru's sister and the first woman President of the UN General Assembly) and Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, and is therefore Nehru's niece.
Her novels are known for their political themes and her criticism of authoritarianism.
Her other works include "A Time to Be Happy" (1958), "This Time of Morning", "Storm in Chandigarh", "A Situation in New Delhi" and "Mistaken Identity", and the memoir "Prison and Chocolate Cake" (1954).
In October 2015, she returned her Sahitya Akademi Award in protest against what she described as growing intolerance and the Akademi's silence over the killings of writers. This started a wave of "award wapsi" (returning awards) by many writers.
Other Indian women novelists in English:
- Anita Desai: "Clear Light of Day", "In Custody".
- Kamala Markandaya: "Nectar in a Sieve" (1954), about a poor peasant woman.
- Shashi Deshpande: "That Long Silence".
- Arundhati Roy: "The God of Small Things".
Why not the other options?
- ✗Anita Desai wrote "Clear Light of Day".
- ✗Kamala Markandaya wrote "Nectar in a Sieve".
- ✗Shashi Deshpande wrote "That Long Silence".
Quick tip
Remember: "Rich Like Us" (1985, set during the Emergency) = Nayantara Sahgal (Nehru's niece; Sahitya Akademi 1986, returned in 2015); "Nectar in a Sieve" = Kamala Markandaya.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.