India is a land of rich culture and diversity. With so many stories in our fold, no bookworm should miss out on the absolutely engrossing books by Indian authors. Books are a great way for new voices to be heard as well as forming insights on different communities. Below is the list of the top 5 books by Indian authors. These stories revolve around experiences that we face in our everyday lives. And they are books we shouldn’t skip reading.
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
This book by Aravind Adiga is told from the perspective of Balram Halwai, a young man who is desperate to come out of his poverty-stricken life and lead an independent life. He moves from his small village to Delhi to work as a chauffeur. The sudden changes of a big city come as a cultural shock to him. In order to get out of his sorry state, he gets influenced to indulge in negative and shady activities, which he is completely unapologetic about. The book is fascinatingly dark yet a hilarious tale.
Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
The plot of the book is set in the year 1947 when the India-Pakistan partition was taking place, where millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs had to flee. Train to Pakistan is a story about Mano Majra, a small peaceful village on the border of India and Pakistan, where Muslims and Sikhs have lived together in peace for years. Until a train loaded with the bodies of hundreds of refugees arrives. And the village faces its first horrors of the civil war. It is a must-read book by Indian authors for anyone who wants to delve into the Indian history and literature.
Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
If you enjoy reading mythology, then this award-winning book is definitely for you. The book retells the epic story of Mahabharata from Draupadi’s point of view with modern twists and turns. Draupadi who is known for marrying all five Pandava brothers is the lead female character throughout the journey of war and exile. Additionally, the story is full of magic for the reader as it is a mix of half-history and half-myth. It is most certainly one of the best novels on our list of books by Indian authors.
Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
Pashmina is a novel featuring an Indian American teenage girl called Priyanka Das who feels out of place for being different. She has a lot of questions about why her mother left India years ago and who her father is. All her questions are unanswered by her mom until she finds a mysterious pashmina and wraps it around herself. With the pashmina around her, she is transported to a place she guesses is India. But to find the answers to her questions, Priyanka has to travel further. Get engrossed in this heart-warming novel between two different cultures and worlds.
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
With 1,349 pages, this book is one of the longest English novels to be published in a single volume. The story revolves around four families and their lives and loves in the newly independent India. Also, the book mainly focuses on Mrs Rupa Mehra trying to find a suitable match for marriage to her daughter. And with post-partition politics, strife and tension between castes, changing family relations this story is about normal people caught between humour and sadness, love and ambition, prejudice and reconciliation.