Today's news

India's Aravind Adiga wins Booker prize 2008

Beating predictions by bookies and others, debutant Indian novelist 33-year-old Aravind Adiga's book "The White Tiger" was today declared the winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction for 2008.

Adiga beat favourite Sebastian Barry to take the 50,000 pound prize. The other authors in the shortlist were Amitav Ghosh, Steve Toltz, Linda Grant and Philip Hensher.

Quoting New Yorker:

He becomes the fifth Indian author to win the prize, joining V S Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Kiran Desai who won the prize in 1971, 1981, 1997 and 2006 respectively.

In addition, "The White Tiger" is the ninth winning novel to take its inspiration from India or Indian identity.

His book, "The White Tiger", has been published by Atlantic Books and has already won rave reviews.

Michael Portillo, chairman of the judges, said: "In many ways it was the perfect novel.

"The judges found the decision difficult because the shortlist contained such strong candidates. In the end, The White Tiger prevailed because the judges felt that it shocked and entertained in equal measure.

"The novel undertakes the extraordinarily difficult task of gaining and holding the reader's sympathy for a thoroughgoing villain. The book gains from dealing with pressing social issues and significant global developments with astonishing humour."

Portillo went on to explain that the novel had won overall because of "its originality". He said that "The White Tiger" presented "a different aspect of India" and was a novel with "enormous literary merit".

Adiga had been given odds of 7/1 before the ceremony by bookmakers William Hill. Irish writer Barry had been tipped to take the prize at 7/4. The bookmakers' favourite has not won since Yann Martel in 2002.

Adiga was born on October 23, 1974 and raised partly in Australia. He studied at Columbia and Oxford Universities and is a former correspondent for TIME magazine in India.

His articles have appeared in publications such as the Financial Times, Independent and Sunday Times.

Adiga's book "The White Tiger", a tale of two Indias, tells the story of Balram, the son of a rickshaw puller in the heartlands, one of the "faceless" poor left behind by the country's recent economic boom.

It charts his journey from working in a teashop to entrepreneurial success.

The award, which honours the best fiction written in English by an author from the UK, Ireland or the Commonwealth nations, was handed out at the Guildhall in London.

Its elections tomorrow

Vote for Obama!!

And if it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, the only dream that mattered had come true. In this life, I was loved by you.

whats the neutral smily doin there then?

Hope Obama wins

Kuch Mithe Pal bahut yaad aate hain,
Palkoan par aansu chod jaate hain.
Kall koi aur mile to hame mat bhul jana,
Kuch anjane rishte zindagi bhar yaad aate hain

LMAO^ You were busy telling me you don't even know who Obama is sometime ago .. aabh kya hua?

Its like wishing for rain, as i stand in the desert, but i am holding you closer than most, because you are my heaven.

My friend been praying that Obama wins so I thought let me say that too

Kuch Mithe Pal bahut yaad aate hain,
Palkoan par aansu chod jaate hain.
Kall koi aur mile to hame mat bhul jana,
Kuch anjane rishte zindagi bhar yaad aate hain

Barack Obama - The next President of the United Sates of America.

His speech was good, but loved McCain's speech.

Hope Obama takes the right decision, and takes us back on track

The Change we need

And if it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, the only dream that mattered had come true. In this life, I was loved by you.

Its kinda amazing, we just witnessed history hehe

And if it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, the only dream that mattered had come true. In this life, I was loved by you.

hehe you know when they said we project Obama as the next president, and they just went silent, i kinda started tearing up. You can achieve your dreams, nothing can stop you if you have the will...

Dr. King's speech went through my mind and wished he would be here to see this day , A candidate not judged by the color of his skin, but by his credentials. Made me feel proud to know that we have come a long way from the times of civil war He is our president, we made history

I loved the way everybody reacted, it felt like iono like u know we r all one It was a nice feeling, seeing all these people being involved for the first time, it was absolutely amazing =D

And if it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, the only dream that mattered had come true. In this life, I was loved by you.

Mubarack ho

Pig, sorry i didnt see ur post lol the neutral smiley was supposed to explain - oh wow, its elections already What if we have to deal with another President like Bush haha sorry the smiley didnt make it clear enough

And if it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, the only dream that mattered had come true. In this life, I was loved by you.

Kudos to Obama Campaign

Time flies but memories never fade

MY PALIN LOST

Its like wishing for rain, as i stand in the desert, but i am holding you closer than most, because you are my heaven.

Ash Palin Dont worry, atleast ur idol got some publicity and a direct entry in the arena n got how much - i think $150,000 for her wardrobe You shouldn't be complaining Maybe next elections she'll run for the President Imagine tht

And if it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, the only dream that mattered had come true. In this life, I was loved by you.