Timeless Tales from Marwar by Vijaydan Detha
Translated from Rajasthani by Vishes Kothari Timeless Tales from Marwar is a delightful collection of 17 short stories translated by Vishes Kothari from Vijaydan Detha’s Batan Ri Phulwari. They are steeped in the oral storytelling tradition and have belonged to the people for generations. And yet, as we read these tales, they seem to be […]
#InsideEdge: In Conversation with Sridhar Balan
Who are the key Indian publishers? What does the Indian publishing industry look like on the inside; from the eyes of professionals like editors, marketing executives, sales managers, book cover designers? Understanding this can tell us a lot about how to write a book to suit the demands of Indian publishing, how to approach Indian […]
Award-winning Indian Books of 2019
There are the really big book awards. We know the Booker prize, we know the Nobel, the Pulitzer. Closer home, any list of award-winning Indian books will include there’s the glamourous JCB, and to some extent the DSC and the Sahitya Akademi awards. But India, with its many languages, has a multitude of smaller awards […]
Ismat: Her Life, Her Times
Lihaaf was the first Ismat Chughtai story I read, back in my first year of college. I was 18, bright-eyed with curiosity and excitement, in a new city, far from home. Lihaaf stood out and became my favourite short story from our “Indian writing in English” course, which featured such names as Tagore to Amitav […]
The Moving Shadow translated by Arunava Sinha
Puppets coming to life, robots falling in love, and death by a dream; The Moving Shadow: Electrifying Bengali Pulp Fiction, an anthology collected and translated by Arunava Sinha is a riveting set of seven stories and a novella. It features some of the adventure world’s favourite characters – from scientists and robots to murderers and […]
The Corridor Whispers by Sonal Chaturvedi
Sonal Chaturvedi’s The Corridor Whispers is an ambitious project. It sets out to tell the disparate stories of four women – Rabia-ud-Daurani, Nalayani, Quidisiya Begum and Roshanara- ruling “in the veil or on from the throne”; women who must fight to make a place for themselves in the patriarchal order of things, and who are […]
Bheda by Akhila Naik
Translated from Odia by Raj Kumar Akhila Naik’s 90-page Bheda published in 2010 is considered to be the first Odia Dalit novel, and is centred around caste violence. ‘Bheda’ means a sense of difference, one that’s deeply ingrained in our society; the caste hegemony that has led to economic exploitation, cultural subjugation, social discrimination and […]
One’s Own, Yet Different by Meena Kakodkar
Meena Kakodkar’s One’s Own, Yet Different makes one want to hug, compliment and thank the author all at the same time. Illustrated by Charutha Reghunat, the book addresses the gender divide prevalent in Indian society. The central theme refutes the social traditions we accept as a convention, and allows us to continue unquestioned. One’s Own, […]
Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
“That’s how it is sometimes when we plunge into the depths of our lives. No one can accompany us, not even those who would give up their hearts for our happiness.” This quote from the book, Sister of my Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, perfectly sums up the predominant theme of a novel that revolves […]
The Warrior God – Ayyappa of Sabarimalai by Preetha Rajah Kannan
When I was a little girl, my dad had a client from South India. With time he became a family friend and we frequented pujas at his house, learnt to eat curd rice on a banana leaf and my dad even went on the Sabarimala pilgrimage. But most of all, I remember greeting Acharya’s uncle […]
