Best of
Indian-Literature

2014

The Stolen Girl


Renita D'Silva - 2014
    She stole you.’ For as long as thirteen-year-old Diya can remember, it’s always been just her and her mum, Vani. Despite never staying in one place long enough to call it home, with her mother by her side, Diya has never needed anything else. Then, in an instant, Diya’s fragile world is shattered. Her mother is arrested, accused of abducting Diya when she was a baby… Vani has spent a lifetime looking over her shoulder, determined to make the best possible life for her daughter. Now she must fight for her child, re-opening the door to her own childhood in India and the woman who was once as close to her as a sister. Told through the eyes of Diya, Vani and Aarti, this is a heart-breaking story of friendship and betrayal, love and motherhood, which asks the question; how far would you go to protect your only child? The Stolen Girl is an emotional, culturally rich and utterly compelling read from the new must-read name in women's fiction—Renita D'Silva. What people are saying about Renita D’Silva: ‘With a heart-breaking story, wonderful characters and such raw emotion D’Silva had me hooked. A beautiful story. Best Books to Read ‘Renita D'Silva is a genius at evoking the sounds, sights and aromas of India. A major new talent- I can't wait for her next novel.' Linda Kavanagh ‘Renita D’Silva is a wonderful author who has a natural gift at storytelling that truly impressed and awed me.’ Novel Escapes ‘Renita paints the most beautiful images with a few, perfectly chosen words’. KimTalksBooks.com ‘The Stolen Girl’ is a heart-breaking story about friendship, betrayal, possessiveness, love and motherhood.’ 5/5 A Lover of Books

Jasmine Days


Benyamin - 2014
    She thrives in her job as a radio jockey and at home she is the darling of the family. But her happy world starts to fall apart when revolution blooms in the country. As the people's agitation gathers strength, Sameera finds herself and her family embroiled in the politics of their adopted land. She is forced to choose between family and friends, loyalty and love, life and death.Jasmine Days is the heart-rending story of a young woman in a city where the promise of revolution turns into destruction and division.

Selected Poems


Kamala Suraiyya Das - 2014
    An illuminating introduction to her poetry by Devindra Kohli traces the sources of its ferment, and showcases its originality of style and its acts of resistance.

Green Poems


गुलज़ार - 2014
    All these creative talents come into play in delightful, unexpected ways in his new bilingual collection Green Poems, which celebrates his innate connection with nature.Gulzar writes about rivers, forests, mountains; snow, rain, clouds; the sky, the earth and space; a familiar tree, a disused well; Kullu, Chamba, Thimpu. Like glimpses of nature, the poems are often short, an image captured in a few words. And sometimes the image gives rise to a striking thought: 'When I pass through the forest I feel my ancestors are around me ...'.For those new to Gulzar's work as well as his many fans, Green Poems will prove to be a true joy.

More than Just Biryani


Andaleeb Wajid - 2014
    Hesitant at first, Zubi slowly opens up to Sonia, taking her to the Bangalore of her childhood and her mother's simply cooked home food. Life lessons are learnt with the help of familiar dishes and Sonia realises that there's more to Zubi and Muslim food than just their love for biryani. At its heart, More Than Just Biryani is a story of understanding needs, discovering identities, overcoming fears and above all, embracing love. Through the life stories of three women from three generations, the novel shows how food plays a significant role in shaping the lives and characters of each of these women.In the process, it also gives out quite a bit of the recipes for delicious Muslim dishes such as kaali mirch ki phaal, lauz, etc.

Wedding Shenanigans: Or, how Rayna grapples with heartbreak, scandal and a hot hotelier


Adite Banerjie - 2014
    But letting down her friend is not an option. So, she decides to grin and bear it. A mix up with room allocations forces her to share a luxury villa with Neel Arora, the gorgeous owner of the resort and best man at the wedding. Sparks fly and attraction sizzles. When her ex turns up with a new girl on his arm, scandal comes calling. In desperation, she turns to Neel and proposes a fake engagement. As the attraction between them reaches fever pitch, it seems like Rayna has signed up for more trouble than ever! *This book was previously published by Harlequin/Mills & Boon as Trouble Has a New Name

Sufi Lyrics


Bulleh Shah - 2014
    1758) is considered one of the glories of premodern Panjabi literature. Born in Uch, Panjab, in present-day Pakistan, Bullhe Shah drew profoundly upon Sufi mysticism in his writings. His lyrics, famous for their vivid style and outspoken denunciation of artificial religious divisions, have long been held in affection by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, and they continue to win audiences today across national boundaries and in the global Panjabi diaspora. Indeed, many young people in South Asia are already acquainted—albeit unknowingly at times—with the iconic eighteenth-century Panjabi poet’s words through popular musical genres of the twenty-first century.The striking new translation in English is presented alongside the Panjabi text, in the Gurmukhi script, re-edited on the basis of the best modern Pakistani and Indian editions. Bullhe Shah’s Sufi Lyrics thus offers at once the most complete and most approachable version of this great poet’s works yet available.

The Blind Lady's Descendants


Anees Salim - 2014
    True to his dark premonitions, bad luck soon starts cascading into his life. At twenty-six, he decides to narrate his story to an imaginary audience, and skeletons tumble out of every cupboard in the Bungalow.The Blind Lady’s Descendants is an utterly compelling and haunting family saga, brimming with intense heartache and wry humour, confirming Anees Salim’s reputation as one of our most outstanding storytellers.The Blind Lady’s Descendants is an utterly compelling and haunting family saga, brimming with intense heartache and wry humour, that confirms Anees Salim as one of our most outstanding storytellers.

Eating God: A Book of Bhakti Poetry


Arundhathi Subramaniam - 2014
    As old as time, its spirit suffused the outpourings of mystic poets across India from the eighth century onward. Their compositions passionate, sensuous, intimate, often articulated in regional languages and dialects spoke to cobbler and priest alike, and have embedded themselves in our collective unconscious. The two-hundred-odd poems in this volume remind us of this rich palette of human longing: from the trenchant irony of Kabir and audacious sensuality of Annamayya and Chandidas to the earthy mysticism of Tukaram and fierce lyricism of Mira and Akka Mahadevi. We travel the emotional arc of bhakti, from wild longing to liberation, through these utterances and many more. Featuring classic translations by A.K. Ramanujan and Dilip Chitre, among others, as well as new and unpublished ones by acclaimed poets, Eating God is a fabulous treat for seekers and poetry lovers alike.

The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey


Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar - 2014
    Soon after, Gurubari, her rival in love, gave her an illness that was like the alakjari vine which engulfs the tallest, greenest trees of the forest and sucks their hearts out. Now Rupi, once the strongest woman in her village, lives out her days on a cot in the backyard, and her life dissolves into incomprehensible ruin around her.The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey is the story of the Baskeys—the patriarch Somai; his alcoholic, irrepressible daughter Putki; Khorda, Putki’s devout, upright husband, and their sons Sido and Doso; and Sido’s wife Rupi. Equally, the novel is about Kadamdihi, the Santhal village in Jharkhand in which the Baskeys live. For it is in full view of the village that the various large and small dramas of the Baskeys’s lives play out, even as the village cheers them on, finds fault with them, prays for them, and most of all, enjoys the spectacle they provide.An astonishingly assured and original debut, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey brings to vivid life a village, its people, and the gods—good and bad—who influence them. Through their intersecting lives, it explores the age-old notions of good and evil and the murky ways in which the heart and the mind works.WINNER OF THE SAHITYA AKADEMI YUVA PURASKAR 2015 IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGEJOINT WINNER OF MUSE INDIA-SATISH VERMA YOUNG WRITER AWARD 2015, CATEGORY: FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE HINDU PRIZE 2014SHORTLISTED FOR THE CROSSWORD BOOK AWARD 2014 FOR BEST INDIAN FICTIONLONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2016

Scent of a Game


Raghav Chandra - 2014
    TSUNAMI IN THE JUNGLE!Burree Maada, the famous Royal Bengal tigress, the pride of the tiger gene-pool, is mysteriously missing from the high-security Kanha Tiger Reserve and a Wildlife Guard is found dead.Mystery thickens as an old man’s surreal dream about his son, Ram—a highly successful NRI settled in Silicon Valley—being ravaged by a tiger uncannily begins to come true; Ganga, a brilliant Forest officer protecting tigers, is suddenly transferred; Sherry, a vivacious investigative journalist, is attacked, possibly by the wildlife mafia and a globe-trotting and debonair Maharaja and his royal guests plan to recreate old-time tiger-shikar....Why has the NRI gone to jail for a tiger-skin that was presented decades ago to his father by an English hunter of man-eating tigers? Where has Burree Maada vanished? Kanha-Jabalpur-Katni-Kathmandu-Mandalay......where is the trail leading to? Who are the people behind the billion-dollar international business of big-game hunting and sale of tiger-parts and wildlife trophies? Who will survive the tortuous end-game between those who want to protect wildlife and those who want to use it?Set against the backdrop of wildlife conservation, Scent of a Game is a mystery-drama about tiger-poaching, big-game hunting and the international trade in endangered species.With its stark and unsettling storyline, this thriller transforms our understanding of not just the tiger and our environment, but life itself.