From Suitable Words to Timeless Worlds: The many lives of Vikram Seth

You can only be free if you are free from the need to be free. – Vikram Seth

Fluent in French, German, and Urdu, this literary polyglot also reads Chinese poetry and has translated Awadhi into English. His literary works don’t fit neatly into one mold. Over the years, his rare versatility has showcased his talents in poetry, novels, verse novels, children’s books, memoirs, and travelogues.

As you may have guessed, we’re talking about Vikram Seth.
Born on June 20 to Prem Seth, a businessman, and Leila Seth, a barrister who became the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court and later the first female Chief Justice of a state High Court, Vikram is the eldest of three siblings. He attended The Doon School, an all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, where he met a teacher who left a lasting impression, Gurdial Singh. Singh not only sparked Seth’s adventurous spirit but also introduced him to Western classical music. Under his mentorship, Seth participated in dramatics, debates, music, and edited the school’s weekly newspaper.

After Doon, he moved to England to pursue higher education, studying economics, politics, and philosophy. Though he later began a Ph.D. in economics, he never completed it. But it was during this academic phase that his writing journey truly began.

In 1980, while conducting research for his Ph.D. in China, he also immersed himself in classical Chinese poetry and language. That same year, he published his first poetry collection, Mappings, which featured early poems and translations from Chinese, Urdu, German, and Hindi. With this, he officially entered the literary world.

He also wrote a travelogue titled From Heaven Lake, which was inspired by his hitchhiking journey from China to India through Tibet. Later in 1986, Seth released his first acclaimed novel. In an interview, he described it as a “complete fluke.” While living in California, he wanted to write something inspired by the city. He initially considered short stories, but nothing took shape. At the time, he was working on his economics thesis and, to escape its monotony, visited a bookstore. There, he discovered two translated versions of Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel. That encounter inspired him to write his first novel in verse, The Golden Gate, published in 1986.

From there, his literary career flourished. His body of work includes;

• Mappings
• The Tale of Melon City
• From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet
• The Humble Administrator’s Garden
• The Golden Gate
• All You Who Sleep Tonight
• Beastly Tales
• Three Chinese Poets
• A Suitable Boy
• The Frog and the Nightingale
• Arion and the Dolphin
• An Equal Music
• Two Lives
• The Rivered Earth
• Elephant and the Tragopan
• Summer Requiem: A Book of Poems
• The Louse and the Mosquito
• Hanuman Chalisa

One of his most celebrated novels, A Suitable Boy, catapulted him to fame. A sequel, A Suitable Girl, was announced in 2009 but is yet to be released.

For more than a decade, Seth took a writing hiatus. He returned in 2024 with the English translation of the sacred hymn Hanuman Chalisa, published on June 16. During the book launch, he remarked, “Whether you are a believer, or you are a half believer or superstitious, the Hanuman Chalisa can somehow affect you and move you. I can’t think of any other poem in the world that is known, recited, and loved by so many people.”

His desire to translate the hymn was deeply personal. Inspired by how Pushkin’s translations had influenced him, Seth wanted readers to experience the same transformative power through Hanuman Chalisa.
Beyond literature, Vikram Seth is identified as a queer man who is also known for his activism. In 2006, he publicly protested against Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized homosexual relationships. His stance made him a leading voice in India’s LGBTQ+ movement.

While Seth is not married, he was in a decade-long relationship with French violinist Philippe Honoré, to whom he dedicated his novel An Equal Music. That novel earned him the Crossword Book Award in 1999. Over the years, he has received several prestigious honors, including;
The Padma Shri in Literature and Education

• The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize
• The WH Smith Literary Award for A Suitable Boy
• The Sahitya Akademi Award for The Golden Gate
• The Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for From Heaven Lake

In a 1990s interview, Seth said, “Variety is my way of doing it (writing novels).” His career proves just that.

As we celebrate his 73rd birthday, may we be inspired by his freedom, his fearlessness, and his love of language. Let’s learn new tongues, explore new forms, and see where curiosity might take us, just as it did for Vikram Seth.