It is Chetan Bhagat’s birthday, and we are sure that even if we don’t wish him, the rich man is going to be happy. And why not? Half Girlfriend is going to soon hit the screens, and his novel will achieve further sales.
Unfortunately, we can’t change the taste of the Indian audience, but there’s no harm in trying. Here are ten Indian writers whose books should be selling ten times more than Bhagat’s, because they are ten times superior.
Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri is Pulitzer prize winning author, and her stories are usually about Indian migrants in the United States. Her characters are extremely layered, and they will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading the story.
Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie might be a little difficult to read for some people, but you should definitely give him a try. His prose is known for its magical realism, and you’ll find plenty of mental stimulation.
Arundhati Roy
Another one of our favourite writer, we really wish Arundhati Roy wrote more books. After God Of Small Things, Roy’s second novel will be out this year and we can’t wait.
Anita Desai
Anita Desai’s books are like a breath of fresh air, and deserves a lot more readers. One of our favorite Desai novels is In Custody, which was adapted into a gem of a movie as well.
Siddhartha Mukherjee
You should really read Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Pulitzer-prize The Emperor Of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, simply because of its ability to open your eyes about the dangerous disease that can strike you too.
Jeet Thayil
Primarily a poet, Jeet Thayil’s Narcopolis had us raving about it for weeks. You will see some semi-autobiographical elements in the book, as Thayil himself was a drug addict.
Aravind Adiga
Not many people win the Booker Prize with their debut novel, but Aravind Adiga did it with The White Tiger. A wonderful achievement, that was well deserved. Despite falling in the literary fiction category, The White Tiger is an easy read that will keep you hooked till the end.
Vikram Seth
You will never read something that has so much genius in it as Vikram Seth’s poetic novel, The Golden Gate. Every paragraph seems like it has been constructed with a lot of pain, and we all have to thank Vikram for giving us the joy of experiencing such unique storytelling.
Amitav Ghosh
Amitav Ghosh has written a lot of great novels in his life, so if you pick up one and enjoy his style of writing, you will have enough material to last you a month. We suggest you start with the first book of the Ibis trilogy, Sea Of Poppies.
Chitra Divakaruni
Remember the Aishwarya Rai movie called The Mistress Of Spices? It was based on Chitra Divakaruni’s book of the same name. Her writing is as delicious as a spicy plate of chicken, and we are sure you will lose respect for the likes of Chetan Bhagat after reading her work.
