Five Best Indian Authors and their Best Books

Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you books, and that’s pretty much the same thing. Someone had posted the above line on Facebook and for those of us who are into reading, this sums up our hobby beautifully. Books have this magical ability to let you, for a few fleeting moments at least, live the life of another person, inhabit a different world, and experience emotions you never knew existed. And then you are jolted back to reality, you have chores to do, an office to go to, meals to cook, and so forth. Yet a part of the book stays with you. You may not remember the jokes or the emotional parts, but you do remember that you laughed a lot or cried uncontrollably; you will always remember how a good book makes you feel. And that’s why reading is a good thing.

India has always had phenomenal writers and given the diversity of language and culture, it is almost impossible to read books written in every Indian language. A lot of them have been translated in to English and other languages, yet it’s just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Here are a few Indian writers whose works continue to inspire readers across countries.

Vikram Seth

Possibly one of the best writers of our time, his prose and poetry are unparalleled. Born in Kolkata (West Bengal), Seth moved to different cities in India, before moving to England for his higher education. He has received a number of awards including the WH Smith Literary Award, Crossword Book Award and the Padma Shri (one of India’s highest civilian awards) for his works and contribution to Indian literature.

Must-read books: A Suitable Boy, An Equal Music, The Golden Gate, All You Who Sleep Tonight (poetry)

Amitav Ghosh

The second Bengali writer in the list (also from Kolkata), Ghosh is among the most popular writers of Indian fiction. His stories are usually set in a historical context, like the period before Opium Wars of 1830s for instance, and give great insights into the history of colonization, particularly in East India. Ghosh has also won numerous awards including the Arthur C Clarke Award with one of his novels, Sea Of Poppies, even being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008.

Must-read books: Shadow Lines, Glass Palace, Sea Of Poppies, The Hungry Tide, Calcutta Chromosome

Rohinton Mistry

This prolific writer from Mumbai has some brilliant novels and short story collections to his credit. A Neustadt International Prize for Literature laureate, a winner of several awards including the Governor General’s Award, Commonwealth Writers Prize, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Giller Prize, to name a few, Mistry, who has settled in Canada, knows how to touch you through his writing.

Must-read books: A Fine Balance, Such A Long Journey, Tales From Firozabad (short story collection)

Anita Desai

Born in Mussoorie, a beautiful hill station in north India, in 1937, Desai published her first story when she was just nine. There has been no looking back since. She wrote short stories, novels, books for children and is also a renowned educationist who teaches humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She won the British Guardian Prize, the Sahitya Academy Award (India), and her 1984 book, In Custody, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Must-read books: Cry The Peacock, In Custody, Fasting Feasting, The Artist Of Disappearance

RK Narayan

Any mention of Indian writing would be incomplete without RK Narayan. A genius writer and thinker, his stories are simple and straight from the heart and they transport you to a beautiful mystical land from a time gone by. He was born in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) in 1906 and bid goodbye to the world in 2001. Most of his stories are set in a fictional South Indian town, Malgudi. His writing is simple, lucid, witty and his characters, endearing.

Must-read books: Swami And Friends, The Guide, The English Teacher, Malgudi Days (short story collection)

And if you are wondering whether you have the space to store all these awesome books, may we suggest you take a look at Satara's range of wooden bookcases.

Image Sources:

By Smmmaniruzzaman (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

By David Shankbone (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons