Do you want to read Indian Writing that has no tacky young romance or stories of twisted Indian mythology?
Great.
Because I was looking for those too. I wanted to read Indian Literature that makes me feel good about reading it. I wanted to read a story that stayed with me long after I’d read it.
And that’s when I began my research and read some amazingly great books by Indian authors.
And fret not, these books are great but not even long, you can pick them and finish them in a day if you’re an avid reader, or over the weekend if you’re an average reader.
This list features some of the best writers and best stories of India.
Tip : Many of the below featured books are available on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited Subscription for free or at very reduced prices.
Some of these books are also available for free on Audible.
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Best Indian Short Reads below 200 pages
Dopehri by Pankaj Kapur - 110 pages
Amma Bi is an aging widow who lives unaccompanied in her derelict Lucknow haveli. Every afternoon, at sharp 3 o'clock, she hears the sound of unbeknownst steps. Every afternoon, she peeps out. but no one is there. In a state of growing fear, Amma Bi considers moving to an elderly people's home, before eventually taking in a tenant- a bright youthful woman named Sabiha. Her coming fills Amma Bi's solitary world with affection and happiness, and Jumman, the homely help, is transfigured as well.
When Sabiha finds herself in complications, Amma Bi must draw on retired reserves of skill and empathy in order to resolve the situation. Dopehri-fabled film and theatre personality Pankaj Kapur's first debut- is a wonderfully suggestive work of great charm, wry humor, and quiet power, a story that readers will fall in love with.
Wings of Fire is an autobiography of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam covering his early life and his work in Indian space research and missile programs. It is the story of a boy from a humble village background who went on to become a key player in Indian space research/Indian missile programs and later became the President of India.
Arun Tiwari has co-authored this inspirational book. Dr. Kalam’s roller coaster of a journey and humble beginnings are a gentle reminder to all Indians who blame their life and circumstances and the lack of opportunities it presents.
1947 – the year of the great India – Pakistan Partition. But the villagers of Mano Majra, a village on the borders between India and Pakistan, are not bothered by it. Until someone is murdered. And a Sikh boy, the village gangster, who also happens to love a Muslim girl, is the prime suspect. And then the train carrying Sikh dead bodies arrives in the village and the village turns into a battleground. The suspected Sikh boy is the only one capable of redeeming peace.
This book will transport you into the partition era and make you feel all the emotions in your core. Khushwant Singh’s impactful writing has made this book an Indian Classic. Read More Here
How many times have we have heard the story of the epic Ramayana? How Rama returned triumphant to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and after slaying the almighty demon king - Ravana. And then he continued to rule the heart of his subjects with a just and kind rule. Isn't that the way the story goes?
But what about Sita on whom the entire Ramayana happened? Was Rama just and kind and fair to her? Or what of the humiliation of Surpankha who was the very spark that ignited the fire of revenge and retaliation in Ravana's heart and he decided to kidnap Sita.
Why did Laxmana's wife not accompany him to the exile like Sita did for Rama?
Did we ever go deep into the mindsets of the women in Ramayana? Not all of their stories turned out as glorious and illustrious as Rama's.
A short read to put your thinking gears into work.
All Jaya wanted was to live like one big happy family. To know that at the end of the day her family was under one roof – safe, enclosed, in a secure world. But her safe bubble is shattered when her husband is involved in some fraudulent transactions at work. Her son starts behaving abnormally and brings back her fears of being a failure at being a mother. The illusion of her happy life is broken when she realizes – People don’t change. Memory by memory she takes us back and forth through her most piercing recollections of her lost loved ones. Appa her father, Kusum, her niece, Kamat, her friend, Vimala, her sister-in-law, even her coveted job as a writer.
But post the disappearance of her husband, she realizes that she still has a plethora of choices. And given her knowledge of her life and family and now she alone has to choose how to take things forward.
A beautiful rendition of Krishna’s sage advice to Arjun at the end of the Gita – Do as you desire. The writing is complex, but the plot twists and emotional turbulence inside the mind of the central character Jaya will keep you turning pages. Read More Here
The Daughter from a Wishing Tree: Unusual Tales about Women in Mythology by Sudha Murthy – 192 pages
Traditionally a children’s book, don’t be eluded by the reading age advisory of the book. Sudha Murthy through this book takes you on an unforgettable and powerful journey of remarkable women who have been forgotten by time. Every character in the stories is bound to remind you of powerful female influences in your life.
Barkha is a proud and attractive young man, but as an untouchable, he is an outcast. This book is set in the pre-independence era. Doing his menial job as a latrine sweeper humiliation and hardship are part of a day’s work for him. But an idea, brought upon by the arrival of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi’s in his town, might just change Barkha’s life forever.
This novel expresses anger in a raw form you will not find anywhere else. Mulk Raj Anand’s powerful writing will touch your heart with this untouchable’s story.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest short-story writers of the Subcontinent, Saadat Hasan Manto is now, a hundred years after his birth, also acknowledged as one of the most powerful voices of his time.
These stories talk about the turbulent times during the India- Pakistan partition. Covering bold themes like sex, love, and puberty, the stories very simple and crisp and portray a very deep understanding of the complexity of human nature.
The translation of the stories by Aatish Tasser perfectly captures the essence and power of Manto’s voice.
This fascinating and eloquent story tells of a simple peasant woman in a primitive village in India whose whole life was a gallant and persistent battle to care for those she loved.
Married as a child bride to a tenant farmer she had never seen or met, she worked side by side in the field with her husband to create a living from land that was ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects. With remarkable fortitude and courage, she sought to meet changing times and fight poverty and disaster. She saw one of her infants die from starvation, her daughter becomes a prostitute, and her sons leave the land for jobs that she distrusted. And somehow, she survived...
A must-read Indian book that every Indian reader must go through, assimilate, and treasure.
Samskara: A Rite for A Dead Man by UR Ananthamurthy - 192 pages
Story of the last rites of a Brahmin, who lived all his life, unlike a Brahmin. He ate meat, drank alcohol, mocked God, and had no regard for the Holy Scriptures. On his death the community is left with the question – do we bury him as a Brahmin or not?
Best Indian Short Reads below 150 pages
From a house infested with ants, shaped like the bogies of a train, where you could see to the other end if you kept all the room doors open, to a spacious bungalow, with a separate room and double bed for each one. A family finds itself amidst an overnight rags-to-riches transition in more than one way.
The narrator, a sensitive young man, does know how to take all this in and gulp it down. All he can do is run away every day to an old-world café, where he finds peace from a prophetic restaurant waiter, Vincent.
New members join the family that is an already chaotic mess (ghachar ghochar) and the chaos is multiplied by conflicts that threaten to tear the family apart. He compares ants to demons and describes how they made demons out of his family who drew satisfaction in destroying them. Later this same comparison is used demonizing other family members who joined their family later or wanted to join their family and were seen as ants come to infest their family.
Ghachar Ghochar is written by Vivek Shanbaug and wonderfully translated from Kannada by Srinath Perur. It is a mysterious, naughty, and dangerously foreboding story about the collateral damage of success that will remain with you long after you’ve finished reading it. Read More Here.
This book captures the Naxalite military uprisings in India during the peak of their agitation. The focus of the novel is on a mother who wakes up one day to the sad news of her son’s death.
Devi’s portrayal of women and the violence and injustice meted out to them during those times will touch you very deeply. All the stories you read here will remind you why Devi’s prose is considered a significant benchmark in India’s feminist literary landscape .
It’s a compilation of 10 short stories set in the 1950s from Nagaland. These are stories of their struggle for self-determination and fervent nationalism. But they were somehow transformed into disappointments as they became the very things they sought to overcome.
Nevertheless, all these stories introduce readers to a faraway culture, the beautiful northeastern landscape and most importantly they convey messages of true humanity. Read More Here.
Karukku is the first autobiography of a Tamil Dalit woman, Bama. Karukku means Palmyra leaves that have serrated edges on both sides, like a double-edged sword. In this book, we follow the author’s life from her childhood in a small south-Indian village to her educating herself despite all odds to become a nun in the Convent. But then she is compelled to finally quitting that revered position after she realizes, that what she thought would be her ultimate service to people like her, was a political fraud.
We are given a detailed picture of the role of The Church in influencing and molding the thoughts and actions of Dalit Catholics. The incident of the attack on the men by the police on Bama’s side of the village gave me goosebumps. The blatant use of power by the police, the upper castes, and the Church will numb you.
Bama’s heartfelt and ardent narrative will stay with you for a long time. The short story-like format is very easy for the readers. Although a translated book, Laksmi Holstrom’s skill with the translated words will leave you haunted. Read More Here
Gitanjali or ‘Song Offerings’ is a collection of 103 poems selected by Rabindranath Tagore from his books of poetry written in Bengali. It was these poems that took the western world by storm and gained worldwide recognition for this Nobel Prize-winning Indian poet.
This collection is available for free with your Kindle Unlimited Subscription.
Between 2013 and 2016, Project 39A, criminal justice research, and litigation center based out of National Law University, Delhi, India, conducted interviews with death-row prisoners and their families. These interviews highlighted many things – the social-economic profile of death-row prisoners and their interaction with the criminal justice system. Read More Here.
The book “Why Not Me?” is based on the life story of our very own author, Anubhav Agarwal. Where he speaks about his past relationship with Zoya. This is I think the only romance book on this list. But its recent popularity and appeal for the young readers of India compelled me to add this book to the list.
This book focuses on putting all that a person feels in a relationship, during his late teens and early 20’s. It will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions from being crazily in love to being heartbroken.
This book is available for free with your Kindle Unlimited Subscription.
This is a collection of haunting poems by the author addressing his birthplace, Kashmir.
Best Indian Short Reads below 50 pages
“The umbrella was like a flower, a great blue flower that had sprung up on the dry brown hillside.”
A dainty, and frilly blue umbrella, becomes the object of fascination for Binny. But her umbrella also becomes an object of envy for all the villagers when Binny trades it for a leopard’s claw pendant.
Especially Ram Bharosa, a shopkeeper who eyes it jealously and tries to have it for himself. But little do we realize that this little umbrella is about to change so many lives.
Who is Binny? She is a little girl living in the Mountains of the Garhwal region with her mother and brother.
The Blue umbrella is simply written and yet full of wit and it captures village life beautifully. This is a story about a little child’s innocence and beauty where ordinary characters become heroic and depict core human feelings charmingly.
Ruskin Bond needs no introduction. His little stories have always charmed generations and continue to do so.
Let the joy of giving, rather than keeping, inspire you through this story.
The book contains the original statement of the man who shot Mahatma Gandhi on 30th January 1948.
I hope you like the list I’ve put up here. The best with the list is the length of the books. So grab them soonest if you haven’t read them already.
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