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10 Books by Indian Authors You must read in Your Life

1. White Tiger

Aravind Adiga’s first novel, The White Tiger, paints a vivid and disturbing picture of life in the strikingly different cultures that comprise modern India.
Home to more than 15 percent of the world’s population, the country has grown to become an economic power, and yet vast numbers of its inhabitants have little to show for its prosperity.
The conflict created by that reality propels this riveting tale.Balram Halwai is born into the grinding poverty of the portion of India he calls the “Darkness.” He’s a bright student, nicknamed the White Tiger for an animal that appears only once in a generation.
Still, by the accident of his birth it appears he’s sentenced to a near subsistence-level life in his native village, where raw sewage courses through the streets and the residents are at the mercy of venal landowners.

Acclaimed Indian author Kamala Markandaya’s debut novel, Nectar in a Sieve, is the story of rapidly changing mid-20th-century India, told from the perspective of Rukhmani, a woman from rural and impoverished India.
From her arranged marriage to Nathan, a farmer, to the changes brought about by the advent of a large tannery in their village, the novel covers a rich range of subjects with uniquely gripping prose.

This satirical novel by Shashi Tharoorrecreates the Hindu epic Mahabharata within the context of the Indian Independence Movement and its following decades to become one of the most exciting reads in contemporary Indian literature.
Recasting figures from India’s freedom struggle and politics as mythological characters from a 2,000-year-old epic, Tharoor’s work is a powerful read regardless of how familiar you are with the country.

Read this novel to know about the rivalry between Sikh and Muslim that sparked because of a train that was loaded with dead bodies, thus triggering religious hate.
Amidst this, it’s also a story of a Sikh boy and Muslim girl who fell in love and whose love transcends all the religion hate.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s award-winning novel retells the Hindu mythological epic Mahabharatafrom the perspective of Draupadi, its lead female character. Draupadi is famous for having married all five of the Pandava brothers – the protagonists of the Mahabharata – and is an ever present, central character through their journey into exile and war.
However, little is told from her perspective or about her motives and thoughts in the original epic, which Divakaruni tactfully reclaims in Palace of Illusions.

K Narayan is best known for stories based in and around the fictional village of Malgudi.
The Guide is yet another story set up in Malgudi. R.K. Narayan won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the book in 1960.
The Guide is the story of a tour guide who transforms himself into a spiritual Guru and then the greatest holy man of India.
The book was also adapted as a film which starred the legendary actor Dev Anand.

The book portrays the life of a Hindi teacher whose heart lies in Urdu poetry.
A heart-touching and funny story takes a twist when the lead character, Deven, in an attempt to escape from his monotonous life, grabs an opportunity to interview India’s greatest Urdu poet , but it doesn’t turn out as expected.
The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1984.

The Booker-Prize-winning debut novel by Arundhati Roytells the story of a family in 1960s Kerala.
Delving deep into a range of issues from the caste system to the state’s encounters with communism, the story follows two fraternal twins, their parents and their extended family as they navigate life in this highly acclaimed work by the famous activist and writer.

This is the second novel by Mistry published in 1995 and, like his first novel, Such A Long Journey, this novel too received wide acclaim across the globe.
A fine balance revolves around various characters in Mumbai (then Bombay) during the time of turmoil and government emergencies.
The story of friendship and love that progresses among the characters of the book will keep you hooked till the end.

This is a story of ordinary people set in post- independence Indian background, who are looking for a suitable boy for Lata’s marriage.
Lata is 19 and she believes in falling in love first. There’s not only the pursuit of marriage and happiness but heartache and disappointment, which is universal.
Throughout its sprawling 1474 pages, there was no emotion left unexplored and no character left misunderstood.