The 50 Best Books by Indian Women, and the Queen's GoT moment | #50
Also, The Simpsons predict the future!
Fifty issues! When we started this little newsletter a year ago, we did not envision doing this consistently for an entire year. We have only you, dear reader, to thank for that. To celebrate, we have an XL edition of the newsletter with a very special guest editor - Vivek Tejuja. He’s an author, culture critic and the most ‘voracious reader’ we know. Yes, even more than all those people who add that phrase to their resume.
In celebration of this landmark we’ve somehow reached, here’s Vivek’s exclusive list of ‘50 Best Books by Indian Women’. The list is in no particular order and includes only books written in English. Sit back, and enjoy reading it and also follow Vivek on his Twitter for more book recommendations.
The List
1. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. It’s been 23 years since it published and yet the prose is still magnificent and heart-breaking. Always can be reread.
2. A Necklace of Skulls: Collected Poems by Eunice de Souza. Read her. Read her all the time, anytime, and at any place. If anything, she just deserves to be read a lot more.
3. In Custody by Anita Desai. One of the times when a movie introduced me to an author and I’m only too grateful to Merchant-Ivory productions. In Custody is more than just a poet’s decline. It is about the moral fabric of our society, tearing at the seams, subtly told.
4. Starry Nights by Shobhaa Dé. Judge all you want and some more. This isn’t literary. Hardly there. But it’s racy, and it made me stay up all night. I was drawn into the world of Bollywood created by Ms. Dé - tell-all as well. Well, almost.
5. Difficult Daughters by Manju Kapur. Told with great heft and nuance, the story of Virmati and her love for a married man in the time of Partition, had me entrapped from the word go. Kapur built a world that was not known to me, and by the end of the book, all I wanted was more.
6. Kari by Amruta Patil. We need more voices such as Patil’s. We need more stories such as Kari’s. I still remember the first time I read this book. I had goosebumps. Still do with every reread.
7. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India by Urvashi Butalia. The author spoke to several women over a ten-year period to document the pain & experiences of the Partition. And not just women but people literally on the margins of history. Read this. Please.
8. If It Is Sweet by Mridula Koshy. A book more people should read. A collection of 19 stories that are pure delight. From a talking monkey to characters that emerge from cities’ underbelly, Koshy’s world is immersive and exciting.
9. Requiem in Raga Janki by Neelum Saran Gour. A fictional account of Hindustani singer Janki Bai Allahabadi, Gour presents a tale of early twentieth century of a time gone by - of durbars, mehfils, the age of gramophone, and poets as seen through the eyes of a performer.
10. The Glassblower’s Breath by Sunetra Gupta. This book is about desire, need, and the will of a woman to break all chains that are dictated by convention and society. Stream of consciousness at its best.
11. Love without a Story: Poems by Arundhathi Subramaniam. Love is a strange territory to navigate. Poetry most certainly helps us. Good poetry makes it even better and tolerable. It makes us see the people we were and what we have become. Read her, please.
12. One Foot on the Ground: A Life Told Through the Body by Shanta Gokhale. Everything she writes is gold. But this memoir told through the waxing and waning of her body is beyond good. I can’t find the superlative for it. I will not try.
13. Listen to Me by Shashi Deshpande. Another brilliant memoir about what it is like to be a writer and a feminist, and how the two merge. Seen through the lens of her marriage, her identity, and ultimately negotiating the world of publishing, this book is top-notch.
14. Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup. Interconnected narratives. Changing lives. Earth fighting its own battle. A novel of epic proportions. Just read it. Nothing else to do.
15. In Search of Heer by Manjul Bajaj. A passionate and most poetic retelling of Heer Ranjha, told from multiple perspectives. A book that should be read more and talked about.
16. Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale. 2018 would’ve been incomplete without this title. It isn’t as much about romanticising the city by the sea in the 90s as much as it is about the everyday humdrum of life that somehow blends into something more for its protagonists.
17. Peace has Come by Parismita Singh. The stories in this collection will hit you hard (I hope). Stories of ordinary lives caught in the villages of upper Assam, through insurgency, death, and fear becoming almost normal.
18. The Wildings by Nilanjana Roy. I always loved cats I think. This book signed, sealed, and delivered that fact home. You are lucky if you haven’t read it yet. You’re in for a treat. Also, read the sequel. Also, read her book on books and reading.
19. How I Became a Tree by Sumana Roy. I strongly recommend you read this book. For its prose and to understand what it means to be a human being in the world of nature. How must be mind and check ourselves. But it is all about trees and written most beautifully.
20. Tales from the Quran and Hadith: Volume 2 by Rana Safvi. What I love about this collection is it’s simplicity. Rana aapa makes you want to know more about the myths and tales from Islam. A very accessible and super read.
21. Close to Home by Parvati Sharma. Makes for a crackling read. The prose is delicious and it explores love, seduction, greed, and to want more and more in the most compelling manner. Also, please read Jahangir by the same author.
22. Eating Wasps by Anita Nair. Different women. Different lives. All of them have that one thing in common: unhappy experiences in the world. Of men. Of not being liberated. Of being liberated. Of silently & sometimes loudly making their way through the complex terrain of life.
23. Escape by Manjula Padmanabhan. Top-notch dystopia. Meiji is the only surviving woman in a land where women have been exterminated. It is up to her family now to save her from the dictatorial clone Generals. Sweeping read, not losing pace at any time.
24. When the Moon Shines by Day by Nayantara Sahgal. History books have disappeared. Abdul discovers that is safer to be called Morari Lal in the street. And lording over this is the director of Cultural Transformation who just wants to create a Hindu master race.
25. When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy. A book so intense, so raw, of what it means to be in a marriage of violence, and actually retaliate - a brilliant feminist discourse to be read by all.
26. River of Fire by Qurratulain Hyder. Going to include this masterpiece of a novel, as it was translated by the author herself from the original Urdu. A book about partition, love, and the irrelevance of religion.
27. Mixed Marriage and Other Parsi Stories by Meher Pestonji. Before Rohinton Mistry, there was Ms. Pestonji churning out stories and novels about a community providing a great insight into everyday living, also reflecting the mindset of the city.
28. J. Krishnamurti: A Biography by Pupul Jayakar. A biography that everyone should read. An insider view of the philosopher - conversations about mind, body, spirituality, and the role religion plays in the historical context.
29. Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire by Ira Mukhoty. The role women played in building the Mughal empire is uncovered in this gripping account - all about the women - the mothers, the wives, the daughters, sisters, and the milkmothers.
30. The Last Email by Mridula Garg. An epistolary novel about a Scotsman and an Indian woman recalling an affair they had 40 years ago. Nostalgia, fact and fiction brought to fore. Each remembering their version of how it all unfolded and the aftermath.
31. Things to Leave Behind by Namita Gokhale. A sprawling novel set in Indian during the Raj, of events real and imagined, with the landscape of Kumaon, and individuals who are just struggling to find happiness.
32. Cyber Sexy: Rethinking Pornography by Richa Kaul Padte. A book that breaks all norms and talks about porn, online fantasies, intersection of sex and the Internet, attempting to normalise this conversation. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Definitely a favourite.
33. An Atlas of Impossible Longing by Anuradha Roy. A story of love, of home, of houses, traditions, and the smaller coincidences in which lives intersect. Set in rural West Bengal, it traces the life of a family with great ache and nuance.
34. My Story by Kamala Das. A memoir of a marriage, the trials of a writer, and a woman coming into her own. Kamala Das’s book is a revelation on every page - almost punching you in the gut and also soothing at the same time, if that’s possible. A book not to be missed.
35. The Fabulous Feminist by Suniti Namjoshi. Most of her writing is in this collection, from feminist fables to her latest work. Using literary tradition to express what she finds absurd when it comes to power dynamics and inequality, this collection is absolutely brilliant.
36. Girl made of Gold by Gitanjali Kolanad. I read this book last week & I’m in love with the writing. The disappearance of a Devdasi in the 1920s of Thanjavur is the bare plot detail I can reveal. But this book is so much more and brilliantly written.
37. Babyji by Abha Dawesar. A coming of age story of a 16 year old against the backdrop of Delhi - of rape, dirt, pollution, colonialism, and arranged marriages. This is a story of sexual awakening that should not be missed.
38. Lunatic in my Head by Anjum Hasan. Three people in a small town are linked together by the humdrum & want to break out from their destinies. A wonderful novel of chances, changes, and opportunities. Also, the way Anjum Hasan writes makes you want to read everything by her.
39. Nampally Road by Meena Alexander. I bumped into this book. Literally by chance. And as most coincidences go, I loved the writing. Mira Kannadical returns to India from England to teach, and must come to terms with its modernity - with all its conflicts and contradictions.
40. Laburnum for My Head by Temsula Ao. A collection of eight stories, about lives of people from Nagaland, each with their own burden and complexities, often unsuspectingly hilarious as well.
41. A House for Mr. Misra by Jaishree Misra. This is a funny book about a family moving to India from Britain, and building a home from scratch in Kerala, that too on the beachside. Misra takes us through the hilarious laws, and the difficulties, & how they overcome most of them.
42. Those Pricey Thakur Girls by Anuja Chauhan. I still remember reading this book for the first time and falling head over hells for Dylan Singh Shekhawat. I couldn’t think of anyone else for days. Plus the bonus of it being Pride and Prejudice (to me) set in Delhi in the 80s.
43. I Have Become the Tide by Githa Hariharan. This book will ring true with anyone who has faced discrimination in an educational institution. Hariharan speaks of caste discrimination, of inequality, and also of the joy arising from dissent and crushing the system.
44. Bitter Chocolate: Child Sexual Abuse in India by Pinki Virani. A very difficult book to read. A read perhaps not even meant for all to stomach, but an essential read nonetheless. For us to be aware, to put an end to this, & to understand what role we can play.
45. Dark Things by Sukanya Venkatraghavan. This is the world of Gandharvas, Apsaras and Yakshis and you need patience to get into it. This is also the kind of homegrown fantasy you must read.
46. Known Turf: Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales by Annie Zaidi. This book had me from the first page. Drawing from her experiences as a journalist in India’s hinterlands, Zaidi adds her own nuance - her own layer of observation-stories of women, patriarchy, and more.
47. Dancing with the Nation: Courtesans in Bombay Cinema by Ruth Vanita. Immensely insightful, and detailed, this book through the courtesans in Hindi cinema, tells us not only about the political, social, and cultural bearings, but also challenging the stereotypes we build.
48. Reel India: Cinema off the Beaten Track by Namrata Joshi. India's obsession with the movies is well-known, to what extent, is perhaps still a mystery - something that fascinates us every day. This book is perfect for that, traversing the length & breadth of Indian cinema.
49. Unveiling India: A Women's Journey by Anees Jung. The author speaks of her life, raised to be in purdah, through the eyes of other women as she goes from city to village to small-town India, interviewing & conversing with them. I read this in college and still reread it.
50. You are Here by Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan. The year was 2008, and to think that a blogger could get published! And with great reason. Her book is hilarious - a story of a young woman stumbling through life, and discovering herself. Funny AF! Read it.
From IWTK, With Love
On the occasion of Queen Elizabeth’s 95th birthday, here are 8 facts you did NOT know about her fascinating life, including the time she refused to sit on the GoT throne.
On the 34th anniversary of The Simpsons we look back at some accurate predictions made by the show. Prescient.
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