5 English books by Indian authors you must read

Here I list a few of my favourite English books written by Indian authors whom I have grown to love. While Independence day is coming up and we all gear to celebrate the day and commemorate the martyrs who gave their lives fighting for our freedom, I am fully armored and ready to start with the Discovering India readathon we are hosting this year. You can find all the details of the readathon below.

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1.  The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

 

 

A book that never fails to amaze me with the sheer brilliance of the writing style, no matter how many times I read it. A book about fraternal twins, their mother and about the tiniest things make the largest impacts in our regular lives. Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize for this masterpiece.

2. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

 

A saga that will not only pull you in but you will get so immersed into it that when you are not reading it, you will be missing it. Such is the beauty of it! The story is set in post-partition India and the backdrop along with the funny tactics of a family looking for a suitable boy for their daughter makes for an entertaining and enlightening read. This book is soon to be made into a popular TV show.

3. Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh

I don’t remember the last time I cried as much as I did after reading this book. I read this one as part of the Discovering India Readathon last year and I was shocked at the atrocities that the partition of India brought to human lives. It is a marvel as to how perfectly this tiny book has focused on the transformation of regular peace-loving people to a mass full of hatred and cruelty. There is a film adaptation of this so you might want to check that out.

4. Godan by Premchand

Reading this book was a revelation. It was one of those life-changing reads for me and Premchand’s Godan’s english translation leaves no stone unturned while depicting the lives of farmers under the brutal zamindari system and caste segregation. This last complete novel of Premchand was later adapted into a movie.

5. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakurni

A book that totally redefined modern mythological retellings, is so apt for the recent times where humanity has taken to the dogs and women are fighting for what they have deserved since long. The ancient tale of Mahabharata is told from the perspective of Panchali, the wife of the Pandavs and the story couldn’t get better. It reincites your urge to explore the epics.

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Some other books that you will equally enjoy are Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand, What happened to Netaji by Anuj Dhar, When I Hit You by Meena Kandasamy, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.

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