13 Indian Translated Books

That Will Change How You See India

I have to admit literary publications by Indian authors published directly in English are breaking the proverbial glass ceiling these days but, local Indian authors are not far behind with their translators in tow. Mind-boggling plots, simpleton characters, and eloquent writing are all part of the scene for Indian books translated into English.

These splendid Indian language novels translated into English most assuredly leave you thirsting for more stories from the enthralling Indian landscape. Also we are celebrating the 75^th Independence day in India and I thought this post would be an ideal homage to the event.

Indian Translated Books

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbaug

Translated from Kannada by Srinath Perur

A family lives in a cramped house filled with ants.

The rooms connect like train compartments. Then they get rich overnight. They moved to a spacious bungalow with separate bedrooms for everyone.

Everyone celebrates the money. But wealth changes them in ways they don't see coming. The young narrator watches his conservative South Indian family transform. He can't process what's happening. So he escapes every day to an old café. There, a wise waiter gives him advice that changes everything.

I loved how Shanbag captures family dynamics. The title "Ghachar Ghochar" means "tangled up"—and that's exactly what happens to this family. This book stayed with me for weeks.

• Best for: Readers who like short, powerful novels about family and money
• Vibes: Psychological, compact (under 130 pages), slow-burn tension
• Note: One of the best Kannada novels translated to English

Read My Review Here

Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar

Translated from Marathi by Jerry Pinto

A Marathi family takes in a paying guest. 

The brother Tanay, falls in love with him. The sister Anjali, falls in love with him too. Then everything falls apart.

The story has this mysterious, haunting quality. I stayed hooked because I couldn't figure out the paying guest's motives. Why did he run away with Anjali? Why did he abandon her? The unanswered questions make it better, not worse.

I connected deeply with this book because I'm Marathi too. I recognised the family dynamics. Even though it explores LGBT themes, Kundalkar handles it with sensitivity—no shock value, just honest emotion.

• Best for: Readers who want LGBTQ+ stories from India
• Vibes: Mystery, forbidden love, family destruction
• Award: Adapted into a Netflix film in 2022

Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar

The Mother of 1084 by Mahasweta Devi

Translated from Bengali by Samik Bandopadhyay

Sujata's son is dead.

The authorities reduce him to a number: 1084. She searches for the truth about his death. What she discovers changes everything she believed about herself and her family.

This book captures something I haven't seen elsewhere—the youth of India caught in political violence. Sujata's grief feels achingly real. She keeps thinking, "If only I had done things differently that day, he'd still be alive." Those thoughts will break your heart.

The plot centres on the Naxalite movement in Calcutta. It's tender and political at the same time. I found it just okay, but I respect what Mahasweta Devi accomplished here.

• Best for: Readers interested in Indian political history and mother-son relationships
• Vibes: Political, grief-heavy, introspective
• Note: Set during the Naxalite movement in 1970s Bengal

Read My review Here

Indian books translated into English

The Liberation of Sita by Volga

Translated from Telugu by T.Vijay Kumar C. Vijayashree

Everyone knows the Ramayana. Rama rescues Sita, then abandons her because people question her purity. In Valmiki's version, it's Rama's story.

In Volga's version, it's Sita's story. After Rama abandons her, Sita starts a journey toward finding herself. She meets Surpanakha, Renuka, Urmila, Ahalya—women the original epic barely mentions. These women teach Sita about desire, choice, and freedom. They help her make a decision no one expects.

I loved this feminist retelling. Volga asks: What if Sita chose herself? What if the women in the Ramayana had agency? This book makes you rethink India's most famous epic.

• Best for: Readers who love mythology retellings with feminist perspectives
• Vibes: Empowering, subversive, questioning tradition
• Note: Volga is a pen name—the author writes feminist Telugu literature

The Sickle by Anita Agnihotri

Translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha

This novel tackles everything wrong with rural India. Female infanticide. Sexual assault. Caste violence. Farmers' suicides. Climate change. It sounds overwhelming, right?

But Agnihotri tells these stories through real people—farmers, migrant workers, activists in Maharashtra. She makes the statistics human. The writing feels urgent and compassionate at the same time.

I found this book difficult to read because the truths are brutal. But that's exactly why it matters. It shows contemporary India without filters.

• Best for: Readers who want socially conscious literature
• Vibes: Political, urgent, heartbreaking
• Trigger warnings: Violence, sexual assault, suicide
• Note: Covers climate change before it became a mainstream literary topic

Pyre by Perumal Murugan

Translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan

Saroja and Kumarasen fall in love. They marry secretly and move to his village. But they're hiding something dangerous—their marriage crosses caste lines.

Kumarasen believes love will win. He thinks his family will understand. He thinks the village will accept them after some gossip. He's wrong about everything.

The writing terrified me. I felt helpless watching these innocent newlyweds face the village's cruelty. Murugan shows rural India's ugly reality—how caste still controls who lives and who dies.

• Best for: Readers who can handle brutal, realistic fiction about caste violence 
• Vibes: Tragic, tense, devastating 
• Trigger warnings: Caste violence, honour killing themes 
• Note: Murugan faced death threats for this book and briefly stopped writing

Pyre by Perumal Murugan

Indian Novels in English

Karukku by Bama

Translated from Tamil by Lakshmi Holstrom

"Karukku" means palmyra leaves with sharp edges on both sides—like a double-edged sword. That's exactly what this autobiography feels like.

Bama grows up as a Dalit woman in a small Tamil village. She educates herself against all odds. She becomes a nun, thinking the convent will let her serve her community. Then she discovers the Church practices caste discrimination too. She quits everything.

This is the first autobiography by a Tamil Dalit woman. Bama writes with raw honesty about caste, gender, and religion. Her anger burns through every page. I couldn't look away.

• Best for: Readers who want to understand caste from someone who lived it
• Vibes: Fierce, autobiographical, groundbreaking
• Note: A landmark in Dalit literature

Read My Review

Dopehri by Pankaj Kapur

Translated from Hindustani by Rahul Soni

Amma Bi is an elderly widow living alone in her crumbling Lucknow haveli. Every afternoon at 3 PM, she hears footsteps. She looks out. No one's there. The mystery terrifies her.

She considers moving to an old-age home. Instead, she takes in a tenant—a young woman named Sabiha. Sabiha fills Amma Bi's lonely world with warmth. Even Jumman, the house help, transforms. When Sabiha faces trouble, Amma Bi must find strength she forgot she had.

I loved this quiet, gentle story. Pankaj Kapur (the famous actor) writes with charm and humor. It's a small book with a big heart.

• Best for: Readers who want hopeful stories about aging and friendship
• Vibes: Warm, gentle, charming
• Note: Pankaj Kapur's debut novel

Monsoon by Vimala Devi

Translated from Portuguese by Paul Melo e Castro

Twelve short stories set in Goa when it was still a Portuguese colony. Each story explores different aspects of colonial life—caste, religion, language barriers, property rights, and privilege.

I found this fascinating because it shows a side of India we rarely read about. Most colonial literature focuses on British India. Vimala Devi gives us Portuguese Goa—a completely different experience.

The emotions vary wildly from story to story. Some made me angry. Some made me sad. All of them taught me something about pre-independence Goa.

• Best for: Readers interested in Goa's Portuguese colonial history
• Vibes: Varied (12 different stories, 12 different moods)
• Note: Rare glimpse into Portuguese Goa's literary world

Read Review Here

Manto’s selected stories

Translated from Urdu by Aatish Tasveer

Twelve short stories, including Manto's most famous works: "The Dog of Tithwal" and "Toba Tek Singh." Most stories deal with India's independence and Partition—the violence, the absurdity, the tragedy.

But Manto also writes about women with unusual respect for his era. "License" (my favourite) and "My Name is Radha" show strong, independent women. He captures their strength alongside their helplessness in a society that won't progress.

Manto writes with brutal honesty. He doesn't romanticise or preach. He just shows humans at their best and worst during India's most painful time.

• Best for: Anyone interested in Partition literature
• Vibes: Bleak, honest, essential
• Note: Manto is considered one of Urdu's greatest short story writers

Read My review  

The Blue Bedspread by Raj Kamal Jha

Translated from Bengali by the author

A man writes letters to his newborn niece. 

Her mother—his sister—died giving birth. He tells the baby stories about their family. About their childhood. About secrets no one discusses.

The writing feels dreamlike. Jha blends memory with imagination. Reality blurs. The blue bedspread becomes a symbol of everything the family refuses to say out loud.

I won't lie—this book challenged me. It's experimental and poetic. But it stayed with me for months. Jha shows how trauma echoes through generations.

• Best for: Readers who like literary, experimental fiction 
• Vibes: Dark, poetic, fragmented narrative 
• Note: Translated by the author himself—originally written in Bengali

The Paradise of Food by Khalid Jawed

Translated from Urdu by Baran Farooqi

This book celebrates Lucknow's food culture and the Muslim community that created it. Khalid Jawed writes about kebabs, biryanis, and the art of cooking passed through generations. But it's not just about food—it's about identity, memory, and belonging.

Jawed shows how food connects us to place and culture. Every recipe carries history. Every meal tells a story about who we are. The translation preserves the Urdu flavor beautifully.

I loved reading about dishes I grew up eating. But even if you don't know Lucknawi cuisine, you'll appreciate how Jawed makes food feel sacred. This book made me hungry and homesick at the same time.

• Best for: Food lovers and readers interested in Lucknow's culinary heritage 
• Vibes: Nostalgic, cultural, mouthwatering 
• Award: Celebrates Muslim food culture in North India

Breast Stories by Mahasweta Devi

Translated from Bengali by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

Three short stories that will punch you in the gut. 

"Draupadi" retells the Mahabharata from a tribal woman's perspective. "Breast-Giver" exposes wet-nursing and class exploitation. "Behind the Bodice" shows tribal women's resistance.

Mahasweta Devi doesn't soften anything. These stories are brutal. They show caste violence, sexual violence, and economic exploitation without filters.

I recommend reading these one at a time. They're intense and necessary. They changed how I see gender and caste in India. Take breaks between stories.

• Best for: Readers who want fierce feminist literature 
• Vibes: Political, unflinching, powerful 
• Trigger warnings: Sexual violence, caste violence, exploitation 
• Note: Translated by renowned scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak