“One should not define me as an activist. I am not an activist,” she told reporters at the launch of her book The Shape of the Beast, a collection of 14 interviews conducted by her between January 2001 and March 2008.

Roy has voiced her opinion on many issues, such as on Narmada Bachao Andolan, India’s nuclear policy, US policies and the Gujarat riots.

In The Shape of the Beast, Arundhati talks about the dilemma a writer faces in taking a stand and guarding the private space necessary for writing in a world that demands urgent and equivocal intervention.

“A writer hones his or her language, makes it clear and private and individual as possible. And then you look around and see what’s happening to millions of people,” she said.

“You find yourself in the heart of the crowd, saying things that millions of people are saying and it’s not private and individual any more,” explains Arundhati, who won the 1997 Booker prize for her first novel The God of Small Things.

“How do you hold these two things down? These are very fundamental questions. This is why so many writers are frightened of political engagements. They feel it is a risk, and it is a risk, and yet I would rather do it than not,” she narrates at length.