The Top Ten Indian Writers in English

chillibreeze writer — KAUSHIKI SANYAL

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Top 10 Indian Writers in English Today.
Salman Rushdie
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The 1980s and 90s saw a renaissance of Indian writing in English making
the task of choosing the top ten authors of this genre especially challenging.
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The renaissance was spearheaded by Salman Rushdie with his path breaking
novel Midnight’s Children in 1980. Ever since his success, there has been a more such India-
glut of Indian authors writing in English. These contemporary writers are centric e-books
not confined to people living in India, but like Rushdie, a large number of and reports
them are part of the Indian diaspora. Earlier writers like Nirad C.
Choudhuri, R.K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand or Raja Rao used English in its
classical form. However, Rushdie, with his Pidgin English, signaled a new trend in writing as
well as giving voice to multicultural concerns. Although his Midnight’s Children, Shame,
The Moor’s Last Sigh, Fury, and Shalimar the Clown received critical acclaim for their
themes as well as his use of magic realism, the book that generated the most controversy was
The Satanic Verses. He was accused of blasphemy by many Muslims because of certain
allegedly irreverent references to Islam’s Prophet Mohammad. A fatwa was issued by Iran’s
Ayotollah Khomeini in 1989 calling for the execution of the author. Many countries banned
the book including India. Rushdie had to go into hiding in U.K. Till date, Rushdie remains a
hunted man with a price on his head.

Vikram Seth
Next on the list should be Vikram Seth who produced some magnificent works like The
Golden Gate, A Suitable Boy, An Equal Music, and Two Lives. His first book is written in
verse form and chronicles the lives of young professionals in San Francisco. But the work
that propelled him into the limelight was his second book, A Suitable Boy, which was based
in a post-independent India.

Arundhati Roy
If Rushdie’s work liberated Indian writing from the colonial straitjacket, Arundhati’s Roy’s
book, The God of Small Things, radically changed perceptions about Indian authors with her
commercial success. She won the Booker prize and remained on the top of the New York
Times bestseller list for a long time. With her also started the trend of large advances, hitherto
unheard of among Indian writers.

Rohinton Mistry
The other authors who should be included in the list are: Rohinton Mistry, V.S. Naipaul,
Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Shashi Tharoor, and Upamanyu Chatterjee. Mistry’s books
shed light on the issues affecting the Parsi community in India. Although the novels are long
and at times depressing, the beauty of the books lies in their lyrical prose. Some of his better
known works include Such a Long Journey, Family Matters, and A Fine Balance.

V.S Naipaul
One of the most enduring figures in the field and a nobel laureate, V.S. Naipaul, is of Indian
origin although he was born in Trinidad. His prolific writing career includes works such as A
House for Mr. Biswas, India: A Wounded Civilization, An Area of Darkness, India: A Million
Mutinies Now, and A Bend in the River. Naipaul is another writer who has courted
controversy for a long time. His often scathing commentaries on developing countries like
India or the Caribbean and his critical assessment of Muslim fundamentalism on non-Arab
countries have been subjected to harsh criticism.

Amitav Ghosh
Another respected name that should feature on a list of the top ten contemporary Indian
writers is Amitav Ghosh, who has won many accolades including the Sahitya Akademi
Award and the Prix Medicis Etrangere of France. Although less prone to controversy, he is
responsible for producing some of the most lyrical and insightful works on the effect of
colonialism on the native people. His books include The Circle of Reason, The Glass Palace,
The Calcutta Chromosome, and The Hungry Tide.

Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri, a recent entrant into the world of Indian writers, tackles the much-debated
topic of cultural identity of Indians in a far off land. Lahiri took the literary world by storm
when her debut book, The Interpreter of Maladies, won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2000.
The Namesake, her first novel, is an ambitious attempt to chart the lives of a family of
immigrants through the eyes of a young boy. Both her books have received brickbats as well
as accolades but she deserves a mention for tackling a subject long ignored by other Indian
writers.

Shashi Tharoor
The list would be incomplete without a mention of Shashi Tharoor’s satirical works like The
Great Indian Novel and Show Business. His latest book, India: From Midnight to Millennium,
is a non-fiction chronicle of India’s past and its projected future.

Upamanyu Chatterjee
Lastly, Upamanyu Chatterjee deserves a mention as he was one of the first Indian authors
who found success outside of India with his 1988 debut novel, English, August. His wry
sense of humor and realistic portrayal of India has given us the witty and amusing, The
Mammaries of the Welfare State. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate the success of his
debut novel with his later works, especially in the West.

Top 10 Indian Writers in English Today

chillibreeze writer — Saudha Kasim
Indian writing in English has been acclaimed around the world for its innovation, radical new
approaches to the art of story telling and reworking of language. While the older generation
continues to produce literary masterworks, a newer generation of writing talent has emerged,
ensuring that the fount of imagination in the country has not run dry.

Here are 10 of the most influential Indian writers in English today:

Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat may not be the critics’ darling, but this IIM graduate and former investment
banker has touched a chord with a youthful readership ranging from college students to IT
employees. His first novel, Five Point Someone (2004), is one of the biggest selling English
novels in the history of Indian publishing. His latest, 2 States – The Story of My Marriage,
was the best selling book by an Indian author in 2009. Bhagat’s success has spawned a whole
army of clones who churn out books that have mimic his colloquial language, college and
corporate settings, linear narratives and lightweight plots. Bhagat and his loyal fans have
learned to ignore the army of naysayers bemoaning the lack of intellectual heft in his books.
He has in many ways, earned the right to crow from the rooftops – in the age of Facebook
and Twitter, he’s managed to turn a large proportion of Indian youth into avid readers.

Kiran Desai
In 2006 Kiran Desai became only the second Indian woman to win the Man Booker prize for
her second novel, The Inheritance of Loss. The daughter of eminent Indian novelist Anita
Desai, Kiran Desai is at the vanguard of a new generation of Indian writers in English
exploring themes of globalization and exploitation in 21st century India.

Aravind Adiga
Aravind Adiga is the newest Indian writer to become a worldwide publishing phenomenon. A
former journalist with Time magazine, Adiga’s first novel, The White Tiger (2008) won the
Man Booker prize, making him the fourth Indian novelist do so. The White Tiger explored the
dark underbelly of the new, modern India and was a fixture on best seller lists across the
country.

Amitav Ghosh
One of the most acclaimed Indian writers in English, Amitav Ghosh’s novels have won
recognition across the globe for the power of their story telling and historical settings. Ghosh,
who has a D.Phil in Anthropology from Oxford University, has also written a number of non-
fiction books that focus on a wide variety of topics ranging from fundamentalism to Egyptian
and Judeo culture. His last novel, the epic Sea of Poppies (2008), the first volume in a trilogy,
was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize.

Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie may no longer dominate the best seller lists as he once used to, but he still
wields enormous influence and remains much admired among Indian writers in English. His
second book, Midnight’s Children, won the Booker of Bookers prize in in 1993 and 2008 –
an award that honored the best book to ever win the Booker prize. His latest novel, the
historical The Enchantress of Florence was published in 2008.

Amit Chaudhuri
Amit Chaudhuri is probably the only Indian writer to be as renowned for his literary works as
his musical career. An accomplished classical singer, he has performed in India, the UK and
the US and has also released an album titled This is Not Fusion. Chaudhuri’s books have won
his numerous awards around the globe, including the Los Angeles Times book prize in 2003
for Freedom Song. His latest novel, The Immortals (2009) combines his love for music and
literature and has won critical acclaim for its depiction of the pleasures of music.

Vikram Seth
Vikram Seth made headlines when he received an enormous advance of GBP 500,000 for his
novel, A Suitable Boy (1993). The 1,474 page novel of post-independence India became and
overnight bestseller and garnered Seth worldwide fame. His last book was the memoir, Two
Lives, published in 2005. A Suitable Girl, his eagerly awaited sequel to A Suitable Boy, is
due to be published in 2013.

Anita Desai
Anita Desai has long been considered one of the pre-eminent Indian women writers in
English. Her books, which have explored themes of belonging and familial ties, remain
popular. Desai has taught at universities and colleges in the US, including the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. Her most famous work is In Custody (1984) which was shortlisted
for the Booker prize. Her last novel, The Zigzag Way was published in 2004.

Ruskin Bond
Ruskin Bond’s books about small town life in the Himalayas, laced with gentle humor and
nostalgia, remain firm favorites among Indian readers. Compilations of his work have been
published in recent years and have proved to be popular among readers yearning for a bygone
era when life was much simpler.

Shobhaa De
Shobhaa De, India’s best selling woman writer recently published her 16th book, sweet
sixteenth (2009). De, a prolific columnist and blogger, writes books filled with privileged
protagonists from Bombay’s high society. Known as the Indian Jackie Collins and “The
Maharani of Muck”, De shows no signs of slowing down after two decades of scaling
commercial highs.