Indra Sinha

Indra Sinha (born in 1950 in Colaba, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India) is a British writer of English and Indian descent. Formerly a copywriter for Ogilvy & Mather, London, and, from 1984, Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners, Sinha has the distinction of having been voted one of the top ten British copywriters of all time. He became known for hard-hitting, campaigning advertising for charities such as Amnesty International and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, but became increasingly disenchanted with commercial advertising. He resigned from the agency in 1995 to concentrate on writing novels and non-fiction.

Indra Sinha's books, in addition to his translations of ancient Sanskrit texts into English, include a non-fiction memoir of the pre-internet generation (The Cybergypsies), and novels based on the case of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra (The Death of Mr. Love), and the Bhopal disaster (Animal's People). Animal's People, his most recent book, was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize and a regional winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

Sinha is the son of an Indian naval officer and an English writer. He was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer, Rajasthan in India; Oakham School, Rutland, England and Pembroke College, Cambridge in England, where he studied English literature. He and his wife live in Sussex. They have three grown-up children.

“I was invited by a publisher to write the text for Tantra. Having done some research, what fascinated me was the evidence that many 'tantric' ideas actually came to India from the Mediterranean. It is rather a dry read and debunks reports of orgies and sexual mischief – sorry to disappoint.”

Indra Sinha, Interview.

Read more about Indra Sinha:  Books, Bhopal