The smell of new books are the drugs a bibliophile intakes and travels to another world, as Stephen King once said, “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” In the era of modernized gadgets, their can never be a replacement for books or at least that’s how ardent book lovers feel. On World Book Day, here are your top 5 must reads from Indian authors that will help you widen your imagination and knowledge.
My Experiments With Truth-Mahatma Gandhi
When we are talking about Indian authors, the father of the nation definitely comes first. Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi taught India a lot of things while he was alive and after leaving for his heavenly abode, he left his books for the upcoming generation to have an insight into his life. ‘My experiments with truth’ is one of his most widely read book. It is his autobiography that focuses on his childhood, his days in South Africa and his life until 1921. The book gives an insight to many unknown life instances of the ‘Mahatma.’
The Wings Of Fire-A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
‘The Wings of Fire’ by our former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is an inspirational autobiography especially for th youth of the country. The book has been translated into thirteen languages and talks about the author’s struggles in his early life, the hardships he faced to his role in ISRO and DRDO and his successful operations. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is one of the few politicians who is lived by all sections of the country and his book is indeed a gem for one who lacks some motivation.
God Of Small Things- Arundhati Roy
Roy’s first novel ‘the God Of Small Things’ won the Man Booker Prize in 1997. The book captures part of her childhood and is a mixture of her personal experiences and fiction. The book is definitely relatable for an Indian reader that deals with several issues in a middle class family. The book also talks about complicated family relationships.
The Forest Of Enchantments- Chitra Banerjee
The author is known for her books like Palace of Illusions and Forest of Enchantments. This book particularly talks about Sita’s struggles after she left on an exile with her husband and brother in law. The story is told from Sita’s perspective and is called ‘Sitayana.’ The book gives an exuberant idea about the problems faced by Sita in the 14 year long exile and how she dealt with them. Indeed one of the best feminist point of views of an hindu epic and becomes a must read for a different point of view.
Gitanjali- Rabindranath Tagore
The Nobel Prize winner Gitanjali is a collection of poems penned down by one of the biggest litterateurs of India. For a fan of poetry, this book is a compulsion. Originally written in bengali, the book consists of 103 poems that are mostly spiritual in nature.
Train To Pakistan- Khushwant Singh
A compelling and heartbreaking diary of the partition of India and the aftermath is penned down by Khushwant Singh in his book ‘Train to Pakistan.’ The book that was published in 1956, the book deals with several problems that the people of India went through during partition.