In the seven decades since Independence, there has been a large body of work produced by Indian historians and social scientists. Taken singly, many of these studies are impressive; viewed cumulatively, they add up to less than what one might expect. The New India Foundation seeks to address this gap by sponsoring work of quality on the history of India since Independence.

The foundation strives to foster interest in documenting the dynamic and rich landscape of post-Independence India and to encourage high-quality research.

In founding trustee Ramachandra Guha’s words: “The New India Foundation has published more than twenty outstanding works of history and non-fiction, many by younger writers, that have won a sheaf of prestigious awards. Our ongoing Fellowship programme aims to catalyze and produce many more such books, that will illuminate in different ways the history and politics of India since Independence.”

Ayesha Kidwai’s In Freedom’s Shade (Penguin India, 2011), a translation of a classic Partition memoir by Anis Kidwai, is among the works of non-fiction that have been supported by the New India Foundation fellowships. This first English translation was published with a substantial biographical sketch of the author by the translator.
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Courtesy the New India Foundation
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Open only to Indian nationals, these Fellowships will be awarded for one year and will carry a stipend of Rs 150,000 a month. Fellowship holders shall be expected to write original books. Proposals should be oriented towards publication, and outline a road map towards that destination. The Foundation is agnostic as regards genre, theme, and ideology: the only requirement is that the proposed works contribute to the fuller understanding of independent India. Thus Fellowship holders may choose to write a memoir, or a work of reportage, or a thickly footnoted academic study. Their books could be oriented towards economics, or politics, or culture. They could be highly specific — an account of a single decade or a single region — or wide-ranging, such as a countrywide overview.

About five to 10 fellowships are awarded every two years.

The books that result from the New India Fellowship are accessible and convey original research. Some of the works of non-fiction published in recent years that have been supported by the New India Foundation fellowships include Rahul Pandita’s Our Moon Has Blood Clots, Akshaya Mukul’s Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India, Kartik Shanker’s From Soup to Superstar: The Story of Sea Turtle Conservation, Saba Dewan’s Tawaifnama, and Neyaz Farooquee’s An Ordinary Man’s Guide to Radicalism: Growing up Muslim in India.

Akshaya Mukul’s
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Courtesy the New India Foundation
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31st August 2020 is the deadline for applications to the Fellowship programme. Applicants for the New India Fellowships are invited to submit their book proposal and a writing sample of at least 5000 words (published or unpublished) either online (www.newindiafoundation.org/fellowships) or by couriering a physical copy to the Managing Trustee, The New India Foundation, Neev Schools, Sy No.16, Yemalur- Kempapura Main Road, Yemalur Bangalore 560037, Phone 080-71101774 (the phone number is provided for courier purposes only) before August 31st, 2020.

Ramachandra Guha, Nandan Nilekani, Manish Sabharwal, Sriram Raghavan and Niraja Gopal Jayal are the Trustees of the New India Foundation. Further details about the Foundation may be found at www.newindiafoundation.org.