A cornucopia of Indian literary riches awaits for readers interested in the fiction and nonfiction of the Subcontinent.
Scores of books will be published this month through January. Here are a few of them that are certain to flourish: William Dalrymple's long awaited work on the East India Company; Ram Varma's memoir of serving as Chief Secretary in the IAS to there fiercely ambitious chief ministers; Salil Tripathi's portrait of his native community, "The Gujeratis"; Roxy Arora's haunting novel of a Kashmiri Pandit in Jammu and Kashmir; Sohini Roychowdhury Dasgupta's celebration of the fusion of Indian dance and flamingo; Shivali Rathore's anatomy of how India's erstwhile royalty gained commercial rebirth by converting ancient forts and palaces into modern hotels; Rajika Puri's paen to the world of classical Indian dance in which she has been a towering figure for long decades; Rajdeep Sardesai's authoritative book on the evolution of Indian cricket, which includes the stellar role played by the legendary Dilip Sardesai, one of India's greatest batsmen; Pallavi Aiyar's examination of the world's most polluted cities, an especially timely book; Monika Kaushik's reflections on strategic communications and how to adapt their techniques in meeting everyday goals; Geetika Khanna's free-ranging thoughts from wild romance to sober consequence, an illustration of how the contemporary Indian woman has evolved sexually and emotionally; Pramod Kapoor's stunning biography of Mahatma Gandhi's struggle with India; Aanchal Malhotra's extraordinary capturing of the the human drama of The Partition through the possessions refugees brought with them; Archana Dalmia's proposed book on India's elderly and dispossessed; and finally, Pranay Gupte's long awaited biography of the late Capt C. P. Krishnan Nair, Founder and Chairman of The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts.