This year, I have been reading a lot of Indian authors. So this list is a compilation of my current favorites.
1. The Age of Kali(William Dalrymple): The author’s love for India and his understanding of its culture and people just spills out of the pages of this book. He writes about his meeting with Laloo Prasad Yadav and the lawlessness in Bihar, Bhanwari Devi in Rajasthan, Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, a nawab in Lucknow in his crumbling haveli and about the tech-savvy young people in a city like Bangalore(among many others). I love the fact that his book is so simply yet beautifully written and he completely avoids the patronizing tone that tends to creep into the writings of many authors when they write about India.
2. A Breath of Fresh Air(Amulya Malladi): I have loved most books written by Amulya Malladi. A Breath of Fresh Air has got to be her best. The protagonist, Anjali, is married to an Army officer who is distant, abusive and carrying on an extramarital affair. Anjali, is at the railway station in Bhopal when there is a deadly gas leak from the Union Carbide plant and she is almost killed. She and her husband soon divorce and later we find Anjali remarried to a school teacher in Ooty. However, effects of the Bhopal gas tragedy continue to haunt Anjali: her son is severely ill, with weak lungs and heart. All of Anjali’s and her husband’s time and money go into caring for their child. Soon, her ex-husband makes an appearance in Ooty with his wife and 2 healthy children. Malladi writes beautifully about these various relationships and emotions; the most heartbreaking being that of a mother for her dying child and how this tragedy gives the characters in this book a chance to redeem themselves.
3. The Space Between Us(Thrity Umrigar): Another wonderful book, this dealing with class differences. Umrigar tells the story of Sera Dubash, an educated, well to do, widow and her maid Bhima. Sera and her family have always thought of Bhima as family and despite the difference in their class, there is a close bond between the two women. However, soon the story takes an unexpected turn which brings back the differences between the two women and how they have to make choices based on everybody elses happiness but their own.
4. A Fine Balance(Rohinton Mistry): The ’state of emergency’ imposed by Indira Gandhi in the ’70s forms the backdrop of this book. Mistry writes about the forced rounding up of beggars into work camps , about the horrific, forced sterilization of men and arrests of student activists, politicians etc. Living in this environment is a parsi widow, Dina Dalal who is forced to take in a paying guest, college student Maneck, to help her pay the bills. Also, in her small flat are two tailors she has employed to stitch dresses that she can then sell. Mistry gives us a ’flashback’ into all the 4 lives and then writes about how they all come to live and work together under the same roof, breaking down barriers of class, religion and education and how this fleeting camaraderie is no match for fate and the times they live in. This is not a happy book, nor is it a feel good one. What it has to offer is brutal honesty and reality.
5. City of Djinns(William Dalrymple): If you’ve ever lived in Delhi, you’ve got to love this book! The author writes about the year he spent living in Delhi. He writes about the history of the city and then writes about present day Delhi. All that you love and hate about the city, from the bossy land lady to the taxi driver from hell, to his descriptions of the social life.it’s all there. It’s all very real and very hilarious and this is one book I keep on my nightstand and love to read over and over again.
Well, that’s my favorite 5. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy these books as much as I did!