One of the most ideal form of escapism while we are stuck inside due to lockdown, is reading. On World Book Day, some of the best-selling authors pick books that one can read to wile away the hours. From the Sufi rules of love to some old classics, the options are lot to choose from.
Manu S Pillai
This World Book Day, I would recommend two biographies of two exceptional Indian emperors, both available online during the lockdown, among others.
• Raya: Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara by Srinivas Reddy. It brings back into focus an emperor about whom we don’t know as much as we ought to.
• Akbar: The Great Mughal by Ira Mukhoty. It has received fine reviews from senior scholars in the field already.
• A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian. It is about a thirty-year-old slum hidden between brand-new, high-rise apartment buildings in contemporary Bangalore.
{{/usCountry}}• A People’s History of Heaven by Mathangi Subramanian. It is about a thirty-year-old slum hidden between brand-new, high-rise apartment buildings in contemporary Bangalore.
{{/usCountry}}• I also recommend Goat Days by Benyamin which is a tale of aspiration, endurance and will, set in the Arabian desert around the tribulations of an enslaved Indian immigrant.
• Currently I am reading Girl Made of Gold by Gitanjali Kolanad, a mystery set in a world of dance and art, devadasis and zamindars.
Chitra Divakaruni
There are three classic e-books I would recommend during lockdown, which would be easily accessible. They are each very different and would appeal to different readers.
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is a wonderful novel about a woman’s life and love, and her growth into strength. Jane deals with all kinds of difficulties - food shortage, mistreatment, illness and death of friends, people trying to kill her but she comes out triumphant. It’s a great story, an unusual romance, and quite inspiring.
• Another classic people should read is Home and the World (Ghare Baire) by Rabindranath Tagore. It is an amazing historical novel, set in pre-independence times, with a complex heroine. I am always full of admiration when reading this book as to how wonderfully Tagore created his female narrator. There is a great mix of nobility and avarice in this book.
• Read Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan. This is a charming book of stories that takes us into the delightful and humorous landscape. Narayan’s voice is inimitable, and his sharp yet loving view of humanity’s foibles is sure to bring smiles to the faces of readers.
• Currently I am reading The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak, a novel about the life of Rumi, mystic and poet. It is a very interesting mix of current time and Rumi’s time, with many narrators. The Sufi rules of love, woven through the plot, is very well done.
Rakhshanda Jalil
First of all, this World Book Day, I would like to tell parents especially to keep books at home so that their kids develop a love for reading. Many of them complain their kids don’t read but if there are no books at home, how would they read?
• As for recommendations, Palgrave’s Golden Treasury by Francis Turner Palgrave is my go-to book. There is nothing like a poetry collection because it allows you to savor unlike a novel or a biography which requires concentration.
• You can also use this time to read the collection of poems Saare Sukhan Hamare by Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
• I highly recommend the old classic Odyssey by Homer which is a story of adventure and meeting unusual characters. It is an epic.
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Nikita Singh
People read for different reasons, ranging from literary value to guilty pleasure. Whatever your personal reading preference is, there are books that everyone must read in their lifetime. If I were to make a list of some books to read, out of everything I’ve ever read, here’s what I would pick.
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri which explores the concepts of cultural identity, of rootlessness, of tradition and familial expectation. It is profound and warm.
• The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh. It is a historical saga set in the first half of the 19th century, during the outbreak of the first Opium War, fought between Great Britain and China.
• My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is truly a modern masterpiece. Set against the backdrop of Naples, this is a riveting story of a lifelong friendship, written with unmatched, touching honesty.
• This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. This short story collection shows us the lives of Dominican immigrants for whom the promise of America turns out to be bleak. The prose style is fast-paced and entertaining, almost hiding the emotional depth under a layer of humor.
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. It is about a young girl with dark skin and curly hair who yearns for blond hair and blue eyes—in order to fit in. It is a complex and bold novel, dealing with racial, personal, and sexual emotions.
• Lolita by Nabokov. This classic novel is noted for its controversial subject: the protagonist is a middle-aged literature professor obsessed with a 12-year-old girl, who he privately refers to as Lolita.
• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, an anti-war novel sprinkled with science fiction. There is satire, irony and wit throughout the book, as he explores the topics of war, aliens, fate and the reasons for life.
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. It’s an extended essay where she tells that a woman needs a room of her own, with a lock on the door, in order to have the freedom to write. Meaning: she needs the freedom to confine herself in a room to be able to have the mental freedom to produce art.
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Amish
• Read The Greatest Ode to Lord Ram by Pavan Varma, a scholarly analysis of Tulsidas ji’s Ramcharitmanas, where he selects verses from the devotional and philosophical Text to Lord Ram, accompanied with his own commentary to help us understand them better.
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