Ramachandra Guha The height of a country’s culture growth can be estimated from the works of it artists and authors. Writers, of every description, create worlds through which the problems, events, and nuances of day-to-day life are thrown into sharp relief.
They also write stories that regale us, horrify us or make us ponder about the essence of life itself. Without good writers, a country’s cultural foundation is left faulty and unstable.
Which is why it is important, and necessary, to celebrate the brilliant minds that produced some of the best literary works that the country, and in some cases the world, has ever seen.
Here are 30 of the most famous writers that India has ever produced.:
History
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Ramachandra Guha
List of Books By Ramachandra Guha
When you speak of Indian historians, it is impossible to continue without speaking about Ramachandra Guha. This stalwart of Indian history has been producing books, articles, and commentaries for more than two decades.
His writings have taught new generations about the history of our glorious country in vivid details and in a prose that flows smoothly is easy to comprehend.
Having taught at various prestigious universities such as Yale and Stanford, Guha’s bibliography consists of works on topics such as the fight for independence, cricket, religion, and a whole lot more. Some of Guha’s celebrated works include India before Gandhi, Wickets in the East and The Unquiet Woods.
List of Books By Shashi Tharoor
If you are interested in contemporary Indian literature and/or politics. Then you would have most certainly heard of Sashi Tharoor.
The Indian politician and prolific writer have written several books, with many of them taking a keen interest in our country’s vibrant past. Formally education in Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, in Massachusetts, Sashi Tharoor has had a sparkling political career which started as a UN official and continues today as an Indian politician.
Tharoor’s prose has been entertaining, when it comes to his fictional work, while his non-fictional writings have been full of information and astute observation.
An avid lover of history in general, and Indian history in particular, Tharoor’s novels such as India: From Midnight to Millennium, Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century and An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India, talk about the journey of India from the moment of its independence to modern times, and its hopes for the future.
List of Books By Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie
To say that Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is an iconic, and controversial, literary figure is an understatement. For decades, this Mumbai born author has regaled readers with stories of the human condition, life in India, all the while maintaining historical accuracy.
Rushdie doesn’t simply report historical incidents, but comments on them. His brilliance was recognized globally when, in the year 1981, Rushdie won the coveted Booker Prize for his masterpiece Midnight’s Children.
Afterward, in 1983, Rushdie was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, which happens to be the United Kingdom’s premiere literary organization.
This would be followed by his appointment as a commander in France’s ‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ in 1983 and, finally, in June 2007, Rusdie would be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to literature.
His list of accolades continues and by sampling some his works, for example, The Moor’s Last Sigh and Shalimar the Clown will quickly understand the many reasons behind the veneration that the literary world bestows upon him.
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie on Twitter
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Ram Sharan Sharma
List of Books By Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie
One of the foremost names in Indian historical writings, Ram Sharan Sharma has been an unmatched influence on India’s academic landscape. Specializing in the ancient and medieval history of India, Ram Sharan Sharma started his education at Patna University (under-graduation and post-graduation), and completed his Ph.D. at the School of Oriental and African Studies, under the University of London.
He went on to teach at several Indian colleges until he finally returned to his Alma Mater, Patna University. He would go on to become the head of the history department, and revolutionize the manner in which the subject was taught, not only in Patna but across the country.
His contributions to literature have been just as much of a landmark as his teaching career. His writings include Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, India’s Ancient Past, Urban Decay in India and Looking for the Aryans. Unfortunately, Ram Sharan Sharma passed on the 20th of August, 2011.
His academic and literary stature is a shining example, and he continues to inspire innovation and radical thinking in academics to this day.
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Romila Thapar
List of Books By Romila Thapar
An academic powerhouse and a highly revered figure in the study of Indian history, Romila Thapar has been, for many years, one of the key figures in Indian education.
She completed her education from Punjab University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, at the University of London. She has held positions of imminence at both Kurukshetra and Delhi University. Currently, she is Professor Emerita at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.
Thapar’s literary output has been highly influential in the academic arena of India, with several of her books, papers, and articles being taught at colleges and universities.
She is best known for works such as Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, History and Beyond, Cultural Transaction and Early India: Tradition and Patronage and Somanatha: The Many Voices of History.
Also Read: 10 Best Stock Market Books You Should Read
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Khushwant Singh
List of Books By Khushwant Singh
History generally brings to our minds a subject that is filled with dates, names, and facts. It is a subject to be learned and remembered, and many books follow these traits as they were an unwritten code. Khuswant Singh was one of the few people to bring a touch of enjoyment and humor to his writings about history.
He did not make light of historical events, but he made sure to give them a human touch. Khushwant Singh was in born on the 15th of August, 1915, in the Khushab district of Punjab, which now in Pakistan.
He witnessed the partition of India in 1947, which inspired him to write Train to Pakistan, a work many people consider to be his magnum opus. Khushwant Singh started his education in New Delhi, attending St. Stephen’s College, and completed it at London’s King’s College.
His career has been as vibrant as his writings. He has worked as a lawyer, a journalist, a critic (of arts and politics) and, finally a writer. While Khushwant Singh mostly wrote on historical events, his is remembered by many for his wit, humor, and sarcasm.
His books, such as A History of the Sikhs, Delhi: A Novel and With Malice towards One and All are all filled with Singh’s trademark humorous quips, vivid depictions of people, cities, and incidents, as well as a scathing amount of honesty.
To read the works of Khushwant Singh is to live through history in the most enjoyable manner. Khuswant Singh passed away on the 20th of March, 2014, but his memory lives on through his innumerable fans and followers across the world.
Fiction
One of the top five Indian writers in English, Amitav Ghosh is best known for his Ibis Trilogy. The distinguished writer was born on the 11th of July, in Calcutta and began his education at the renowned Doon School.
Interestingly, he was not the only future literary giant during his time at the school, as among his schoolmates were Vikram Seth and Ram Guha. These two writers, along with Ghosh, would become part of the literary figures that would usher Indian literature into its next chapter.
After Doon, he would attend other prestigious educational institutes such as St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, Delhi School of Economics and St. Edmund Hall, Oxford.
Before moving to write, Ghosh would work at the Indian Express and teach at Queens College, New York, and Harvard University. While Ghosh has made considerable contributions to literature with his non-fiction work, it is for his work in fiction that he is most well-known.
The Ibis Trilogy, which includes The Glass Palace, The Hungry Tide and The Sea of Poppies garnered him a shower of accolades and awards. His other works, such as Calcutta Chromosome and Shadow Lines cemented his reputation as one of India’s finest literary figures.
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Arundhati Roy
List of Books By Arundhati Roy
Born Suzanna Arundhati Roy, the writer is mostly known for her activism and non-fictional writings in the form of lectures, essays, and opinion pieces.
However, her contribution to Indian literature cannot be overlooked, even though the entirety of her work in fiction constitutes of two books. Roy began her literary career as a writer of screenplays. Her screenplay for the movie In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1988.
She was, however, not satisfied with her work in the world of motion pictures, and decided to begin writing her first book in 1992. Then, in 1996, the world was introduced to The God of Small Things. Instantaneously, the book was hailed as a revelation in the literary sphere.
Throughout the world, the books sold millions of copies and were nominated for numerous prizes and awards. Within the span of a year, The God of Small Things received the Booker Prize for Fiction, was listed as one of the top five books of the year by Time, was fourth on The New York Times bestsellers list and received rave reviews from all quarters.
The book made Arundhati Roy a household name, both in India and abroad. She used that newfound visibility to advocate social causes and speak on issues of domestic and international importance.
In October 2016, Roy brought out her second work of fiction, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. While not an incredible success as her first novel, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness was warmly received and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2017 and was one of the finalists for the 2018 edition of the National Book Critics Circle Award.
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Aravind Adiga
List of Books By Aravind Adiga
Arvind Adiga broke into the limelight with his debut novel, The White Tiger, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2008. Since then, he has been in the literary limelight and has written three more novels, all of them receiving favorable reviews.
Arvind Adiga was born in Chennai in 1974 but grew up in the city of Mangalore. His education took him across the world, as he studied in institutions in India, Australia, the United States of America and the United Kingdoms.
Adiga initially went into a career in journalism, working with the Financial Times, Money and TIME, before doing freelance work. It was during his time as a freelancer that Adiga decided to work on his first novel.
When The White Tiger came out in 2008, people were mesmerized by the societal struggles of Balram and Adiga’s stark and unapologetic depiction of life in urban India. Adiga’s other novels Between the Assassinations, Last Man in the Tower and Selection Day are all based on the trials and tribulations of the ordinary man and woman.
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Vikram Seth
The arena of modern Indian writing is incomplete without the mention of Vikram Seth. The celebrated author has been decorated with numbers awards and titles, the most prestigious of them being The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).
The writer began his life in Kolkata, where he was born on the 20th of June, 1952. His father was Prem Nath Sen and his mother Leila Sen was the first female Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. Vikram Seth had his first taste of literary pursuits when he began to edit The Doon School Weekly, a newsletter that was distributed within the famous Doon School of Dehradun.
After his schooling, which also took him to Tonbridge School in England, Seth began his Ph.D. in Economics at Stanford University but left without completing it. Seth’s entire career is based on his literary works, his first novel being The Golden Gate.
This was followed by his most popular and sought-after work, A Suitable Boy. While Seth wrote a third novel, An Equal Music, his readers were so riveted by A Suitable Boy that they desperately wanted a sequel.
At one of his many interviews, Seth admitted that one of the questions that he was asked all the time was regarding the publication of this highly anticipated sequel.
It was recently announced that A Suitable Girl, the much-awaited sequel, will be released in the near future. Seth has also written several books of poetry which include Three Chinese Poets, Beastly Tales and All You Who Sleep Tonight.
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Chetan Bhagat
List of Books By Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat is one of the few contemporary writers that have written works aimed directly at the country’s youth, and depicting their struggles in a fast-paced and ever-changing world. Bhagat draws heavily from his personal experiences, which gives his stories a visceral feel.
His has been repeatedly called the writer who has his fingers on the pulse of India’s next generation. Bhagat’s early life was not aimed at a literary career in any manner, as he completed his undergraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and then proceeded to achieve an MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.
After completing his studies at these premiere academic establishments, Bhagat began his career as an investment banker in Hong Kong under Goldman Sachs.
It was here that Bhagat wrote his first novel, Five Point Someone. A humorous, yet poignant, tale of three engineering students and their struggle to balance life and studies, Five Point Someone was an immediate hit and made Bhagat a literary icon overnight.
His subsequent novels, One Night @ the Call Centre, The 3 Mistakes of My Life, 2 States, etc. have further cemented his identity as the mouthpiece of young India and have garnered his scores of adoring fans.
Many of Bhagat’s books have also been made into critically acclaimed movies, with the most popular one being Three Idiots (starring Aamir Khan). His another success, 2 states, happens to be one of the best-selling novels in India till date.
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Jhumpa Lahiri
List of Books By Jhumpa Lahiri
Nilanjana Sudeshna Lahiri, popularly known as Jhumpa Lahiri, took on her present moniker because her Kindergarten teacher in Kingston, Rhode Island found it easier to pronounce her pet name (Jhumpa) than her proper first name.
This incident would come to be greater significance when Jhumpa Lahiri would embark on a literary career that has delighted and, at the same time, astounded the world. Lahiri is an American of Indian origins, who was raised by Indian parents.
From an early age, Lahiri began to fathom the challenges that the duality of her identity posed before her. These experiences helped her pen down unique and touching stories related to immigrants and the lives of Indians in other countries.
Lahiri’s first publication The Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of short stories. After being rejected multiple times by various publishers, The Interpreter of Maladies became the receiver of numerous prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Her debut novel, The Namesake (made into a Bollywood movie of the same name) was equally successful and earned her the PEN/Hemingway award.
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Kiran Desai
A novelist of international acclaim, Kiran Desai has made a name for herself thanks to her two outstanding works of fiction. Kiran Desai is the daughter of the renowned author Anita Desai, a three-time Booker Prize nominee.
Raised primarily in the United Kingdoms and the United States of America, Desai has studied at prestigious institutions such as Hollins University, Bennington College and Columbia University.
Her first work of fiction was Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, was inspired by the real-life story of Kapila Pradhan, a man who had lived on a tree for fifteen years. This book would bring her a fair amount of accolades and awards, but it would be her next novel that would propel her into literary stardom.
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Ruskin Bond
Most popular for the stories he wrote for children, Ruskin Bond has had an undeniable impact on English literature in India. Born (in 1934) in what was then known as the Punjab State Agency of British India, Ruskin Bond witnessed the independence of India, as well as the Partition.
Bond spent most of his days in Dehradun and Missouri, before moving to the Channel Islands, in the United Kingdoms in, in 1951. It was there that he published his first novel, titled The Room on the Roof.
Bond’s literary brilliance was immediately recognized, as the novel was warmly received and also won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. He soon moved back to Dehradun and began a career as a freelance writer.
He wrote short stories for various newspapers and magazines until the publishing company Penguin established itself in India in the 1980’s. Once they had set up shop, Penguin offered to publish Bond’s writings, and it was then that his work began to reach a wider audience.
Over the course of the years, Bond wrote a plethora of stories, and his first children’s book The Angry River made him a favorite of young readers all over the country. His other popular works include A Flight of Pigeons, The Sensualist, and The Blue Umbrella.
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Devdutt Pattanaik
List of Books By Devdutt Pattanaik
The man who redefined Indian mythology for the modern reader, Devdutt Pattanaik has become one of India’s leading mythologists and has devoted much of his time explaining mythological texts and situating them within the sensibilities of a modern audience.
His vast stores of knowledge are a result of his voracious appetite for reading, and his tireless quest for knowledge. Pattanaik had initially worked in the medical and pharmaceutical industries, having done his MBBS from Grant Medical College in Mumbai.
His interest in mythology led him to also take up a course in comparative mythology that was being offered by Mumbai University. Pattanaik started out as a part-time writer until the success of his books allowed him to pursue writing as his primary career.
Books, such as Hanuman’s Ramayan, The Pregnant King, Myth=Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology and Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata and been widely acclaimed as unique and imaginative retellings of Hindu mythology. Pattanaik has also lent his expertise to television shows such as Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik and Siya ke Ram.
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Durjoy Datta
Durjoy Dutta is one of India’s best-known writers of contemporary romance. His stories are set in urban climes and discuss modern ideas regarding love, loyalty, marriage, and fidelity.
Much of his writing is based on the idea of relationships becoming increasingly fragile as the days go by. Dutta started out as a marketing analyst at American Express, having done his post-graduation from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management in Germany.
He wrote his first book, Of Course, I Love You! in 2008 while still in college. Although the book received rave reviews and sold thousands of copies, Dutta was not certain if he wanted to pursue writing as a full-time career. However, he continued to write and, after his subsequent books were also well received, he quit his job and began an illustrious career in writing.
Non-Fiction
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Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen is one of the greatest minds in India, and possibly in the world, today. An economist and philosopher, Sen is one of the most decorated and celebrated educator & author that India has ever produced. Sen was born in Shantiniketan, on the campus of Viswa-Bharati University.
Sen came from an academic background. His father, Ashutosh Sen, was a professor of chemistry while his mother, Amita Sen, was the daughter of Kshiti Mohan Sen, a highly regarded scholar of ancient and medieval Indian history how worked closely with Rabindranath Tagore.
Sen studied at eminent institutions such as Presidency University and Trinity College, Cambridge and went on to become one of the youngest scholars to head an economics department, when he became the Head of Department at Jadavpur University.
Sen’s writings are not only academically important but have become a matter of national pride. While most of his work, such as Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation and Choice, Welfare, and Measurement are based on his research in economics, some of his other writings such as The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture, and Identity and Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny are related to his philosophical musings regarding India and the Indian way of life.
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Gurcharan Das
List of Books By Gurcharan Das
Gurcharan Das in an intellectual who has contributed immensely to the public storehouse of knowledge through his commentaries, writings, and speeches. Similar to the lives of many public intellectuals, Das did not start out in an academic career.
He attended the Harvard Business School and afterward became the CEO of Proctor & Gamble India and was later promoted to the post of Vice-President of Proctor & Gamble Far East. His career in the company lasted for almost three decades until he took early retirement and started writing in earnest.
His initial stint as a writer was by submitting articles to newspapers such as Prabhat Khabar, Dainik Bhaskar, The New York Times and The Times of India. He wrote his first book in the year 2012, which was called India Grows at Night: A Liberal Case for a Strong State.
The two books he is most well-known for are India Unbound, a narrative regarding the growth of India from independence to the modern age, and The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma, in which he analyses the structure and content of the Mahabharata.
Crime
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Hussain Zaidi
List of Books By Hussain Zaidi
Writing about crime, especially when it is non-fiction, is certainly not an easy task. Hussain Zaidi, however, is in a unique position to write about some of the grittiest stories of the criminal underbelly of India.
Having been an investigative journalist for the better part of his career, Zaidi learned and saw much and this allowed him to write in vivid details about criminal activities. Zaidi’s journalistic career began by working for The Asian Age, of which he would eventually become the editor.
From there, Zaidi worked Mid-Day, India Express, and The Daily Mirror. His stories are inspired by events in his own life such as his interview with Dawood Ibrahim and his experience of being kidnapped in Iraq, where he was able to save himself when he realized that one of his kidnappers was a fan of Amitabh Bachchan and promised to get him Bachchan’s autograph.
His books such as Black Friday and Mumbai Avengers have been made into Bollywood movies, while his research regarding the workings of the Mumbai mafia has enabled other authors to produce books on crime. Noteworthy of these is Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games.
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Ashwin Sanghi
List of Books By Ashwin Sanghi
Crime thrillers have fascinated readers for generations. The thrill of a high profile case, the mystery of the perpetrators of a crime and the genius of the protagonist keep us riveted to the pages as we try and keep up with the break-neck pack of the story.
However, it also requires a writer of exceeding skills to concoct a situation that can be turned into such a fascinating read. Ashwin Sanghi has, for quite a few years now, been that very writer and has written crime fiction based in India and, on a few occasions, on Indian mythology.
Sanghi is both an entrepreneur and a writer, as he continues to work at his family business of book-keeping. Sanghi graduated from the Yale School of Management and began writing in his spare time. His first claim to fame was his 2008 novel, Rozabel Line.
The book established Sanghi as a fiction writer of great promise and was followed by Chanakya’s Chant and The Krishna Key. In 2013, American crime author James Patterson approached Sanghi to collaborate on a book with him for his Private Series. The result of this partnership was the 2014 novel Private India, which was enthusiastically received throughout the world.
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Ravi Subramanian
List of Books By Ravi Subramanian
One wouldn’t be quick to link banking with a pulsating thriller, as the two topics seem quite distant from one another. But that is exactly what Ravi Subramanium did, and he did it with aplomb.
Having studied at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, and has worked for banks such as Citibank and HSBC, Subramanium had an immense amount of knowledge regarding the financial world and the banking sector.
His natural affinity for writing enabled him to create gripping tales of crime that take place in these sections of society. His first book, titled If God was a Banker, marked him as an interesting author from whom great things can be expected.
Subramanium, however, exceeded these expectations with his trilogy consisting of the novels The Incredible Banker, The Bankster and Bankrupt. Since then, Subramanium has been one of India’s best writers of crime thrillers.
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Surendra Mohan Pathak
List of Books By Surendra Mohan Pathak
Perhaps India’s most prolific thriller writer, Surendra Mohan Pathak has written numerous stories of crimes, thrilling adventures, and dastardly deeds.
Pathak used to work for the Indian Telephone Industry, and his literary career took off almost at the same time. He began by translating the works of Ian Fleming and James Hadley Chase into Hindi. While Pathak mostly writes in Hindi, many of his books have subsequently been translated into English, due to their incredible demand.
Pathak generally writes stories in a series, with each series being named after the main protagonist. One of the most popular is the Sunil Series, which has more than a hundred stories to its name. Two of Pathak’s most famous novels, which have been translated into English by Sudarshan Purohit are The 65 Lakh Heist and Daylight Robbery.
Marathi Writers
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Namdeo Dhasal
List of Books By Namdeo Dhasal
Namdeo Dhasal was a man of many attributes and talents, one of them being the ability to produce evocative pieces of writing. Namdeo Dhasal was born in 1949, in an extremely poor family. As a Dalit, Dhasal faced societal persecution but was determined to make a stance against it.
Together with is friend J.V Pawar, he formed the Dalit Panther movement on the 29th of May, 1972. As the name suggests, this organization was inspired by the Black Panther Movement that was founded by Huey Newton in the United States of America to fight against racism, amongst other things.
While Dhasal was extremely active in politics, he still found time to produce astonishing works in Marathi. These include his first volume of poetry Golpitha and his book regarding Indira Gandhi, Priya Darshini.
His contributions to literature were recognized by the country when he was presented with the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Sahitya Akademi Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Namdeo Dhasal passed away in 2004, but his works, both societal and literary, continue to inspire people to this day.
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Anand Yadav
There are some lives that are interesting, then there are those that are so incredible that no work of fiction can come close to it. Such a life was that of Anand Yadav’s.
One of the most prominent figures of Marathi literature, Yadav was born in an impoverished family but had a burning desire to educate himself. His father, himself uneducated, was unwilling to bear the expenditure of educating his son.
And so, Yadav took what seemed to him to be the logical next step, and ran away from home. How a penniless young boy, all on his own went on to achieve a Ph.D. from Pune University is documented in his first novel, Zombi.
The sheer brilliance of the novel won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990, and each of his other books, such as Natarang and Nangarani were also critical successes. Anand Yadav left for the heavenly abode on the 27th of November, 2016, having enriched Marathi literature with his contributions.
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Purushottam Laxman Deshpande
List of Books By Purushottam Laxman Deshpande
A multi-talented and versatile personality comes once in a lifetime and for Marathi literature, that figure was Purushottam Laxman Deshpande.
Born in Mumbai on the 8th of November, 1919, Purushottam Laxman Deshpande was the grandson of Vaman Mangesh Dubhashi, an imminent poet himself, one of whose greatest achievements was translating Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali into Marathi.
While Deshpande had completed his LLB, his interests lay in the world of arts. And not just one form of art, but several. Deshpande became a renowned singer and actor, lending his vocal and acting talents to films like Kuber.
On the other hand, his literary works are considered to be the cornerstone of Marathi literature. His most famous works are humorous writings such as Hasavnuk and Asa mi Asami. After enlightening the working with his contributions to the arts, Purushottam Laxman Deshpande passed away on the 12th of June, 2000.
Gujarati Writers
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Kaajal Oza Vaidya
List of Books By Kaajal Oza Vaidya
Kaajal Oza Vaidya is a name that resonates throughout many artistic fields of the Gujarati language.
Vaidya finished her under graduation at Gujarat University and her post-graduation at Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College. She immediately went into the literary field and started writing plays and novels.
Till date, she has published 56 books, which include novels, such as Parijat Nu Parodh, and collection of essays like Mausam Ek Bijani. She has also written screenplays for Gujarati movies and soap operas such as Hu Ja Bhagyavidhata and Ek Daalna Pankhi.
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Dhumketu
Gaurishankar Govardhanram Joshi, known by his pen name of Dumketu, might not be a writer of contemporary times (he passed away in 1965), but his works remain relevant to this day.
Considered by many to be one of the stalwarts of Gujarati short stories, Dhumketu is credited for having given the genre its present shape and form. A highly prolific writer, Dhumketu wrote several volumes of short stories and on several varied topics.
The one connecting thread is that in all of them, Dhumketu has magnificently brought out the human emotions of his characters. All in all, Dhumketu wrote a staggering 492 short stories, which are collected in volumes such as Tankha, Aakashdeep and Tribheto.
In his lifetime, the genius of Dhumketu was recognized by his peers and he was honoured with awards such as Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, which is the highest literary honour in Gujarat.
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Dhwanil Parekh
One of the most prominent figures in Gujarati literature today, Dhwanil Parekh’s writings are ushering new readers to the is ld of Gujarati literature and also pushing its envelope to the fullest.
Although Parekh started his career as a news reporter, it was not what he was most invested in. His interested lay in the literary genre, and he had a particular love for mythology. This is evident from his Ph.D. thesis that was based on the study of dramas inspired by the Mahabharata.
Parekh also delved into various forms of literature, achieving greatness in each of them. Some of his major works include the drama Antim Yuddha, and an anthology of ghazals called Dariyo Bhalene Maane. For his enduring contributions to Gujarati literature, Dhwanil Parekh was awarded the Yuva Gaurav Puraskar in the year 2008.
Bengali Writers
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Rabindranath Tagore
List of Books By Rabindranath Tagore
A name that needs no introduction, Rabindranath Tagore is not just an unmatched artist in West Bengal or India, but in the world. Tagore is one of the first literary icons that brought the attention of the world to the literature of India.
Rabindranath Tagore was born in the affluent Tagore family, which was at the helm of the Bengali Renaissance, a period in history which saw the rise of several prominent Bengali artists and intellectuals. Although his father wished him to become a lawyer, Tagore was too much in love with literature for him not to become a poet and writer.
After a brief stint in the United Kingdoms, Tagore returned home in 1880, determined to create a new form of poetry that combined the best of European and Indian sensibilities.
The result was a series of poems that captured the imagination of the nation, and then the world. His literary eminence also earned him his knighthood, which he famously rejected after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place in 1919.
Knighthood, however, was not the only honour to be bestowed upon Tagore, as he received the Nobel Prize for literature (for Gitanjali) in 1913, thereby become the first non-European to even receive the award. Tagore was also widely travelled and his experiences abroad helped him create the university of Vishwa-Bharati.
Not impressed by the style of rote learning that he saw in most Indian universities, Tagore wanted to create a space of learning where students would actually acquire knowledge rather than memorizing facts.
He used the prize money received from his Nobel Prize to bring imminent teachers to the university and wrote some of the initial textbooks himself. On 7th August 1941, to the lament of the world, Rabindranath Tagore passed away and thus was lost one of the brightest minds the world of literature had ever seen.
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Satyajit Ray
A discussion of great Bengali authors would not be complete without the inclusion of Satyajit Ray. The iconic writer and filmmaker reignited peoples’ imagination with his bold camera works and his unmatched literary genius. Ray came from one of West Bengal’s premiere literary families.
His father Sukumar Ray, was himself a trailblazer in the field of Bengali literature and is best remembered for his children’s rhymes and literature. Ray was always attracted to film-making and also created the Calcutta Film Society with Chindananda Dasgupta.
But it would be only after meeting French director Jean Renoir that Ray’s creativity would be truly sparked. Then, he would have to travel to London on work-related matters and once there, upon viewing almost a hundred renowned films, especially Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thief, Ray would make up his mind on being a filmmaker.
The rest, as they say, is history. Ray quickly gained international fame for his Apu Trilogy, but in the literary sphere, it was his private detective Prodosh ‘Feluda’ Mitter, that made him a household name. The Feluda books, based on the adventures of the eponymous detective, were a delight to read and continue to be adapted to the silver screen to this day.
Ray also explored the science fiction genre in his Professor Shanku series of books. Ray’s literary output created a new readership as the books were translated into multiple languages and read throughout the country. Before his death on 23rd April 1992, Satyajit Ray had received every civilian award that the government of India bestows, as well as an Academy Honorary Award.
It must be remarked that India has produced numerous literary luminaries and there are, at this very moment, gifted writers who are penning works that will shake the very foundation of Indian literature. But without the presence and contribution of the pioneers in this list, we would not be the artistic country that we are today.