<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Nayantara Sahgal</strong></p>.<p>Two great novels I have admired this year are: <strong>Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar</strong>, and<strong> I Have Become The Tide by Githa Hariharan</strong>. Nagarkar tells a story of the sordid uses of power in our feudal society, the living hell it makes for the poor and powerless, and how the human spirit rises above it. It has the gut-wrenching impact of all his fiction. You come away shaken and shocked. And so with Hariharan’s no-holds-barred novel, which describes what happens to those in our society who are condemned as untouchable but dare to dream of equality. A great non-fiction work I have read is <strong>The Free Voice by Ravish Kumar</strong>, writer, journalist, and TV anchor, whose book subtitled <strong>On Democracy, Culture And the Nation</strong> should be required reading for every Indian. This collection of his reaction to the political and social climate in India today, translated from the original Hindi, reveals a sensitive human being, deeply engaged with the times we are living in, and determined to speak out against injustice and horror, no matter what the cost.<br />What all three works have in common is the integrity of their writing and their writers.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Jayanth Kaikini </strong></p>.<ul> <li> <br /> Patniyaru Kandante Prasiddharu by B S Venkatalakshmi</li> <li> </li> <li> Maharashtrada Kannada Shaasanagala Sanskrithika Mahathva by Dr G N Upaadhya</li> <li> </li> <li> Dashaavathaara - Yakshagana Kalavida Maragodu Raam Hegde Athmakathe</li> <li> </li> <li> Diddi - My Mother’s Voice by Ira Pandey</li> <li> </li> <li> Stars From Another Sky — The Bombay film world in the 1940s by Saadat Hasan Manto</li></ul>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Aatish Taseer</strong></p>.<p> The Order of the Day by Eric Vuillard</p>.<p> The House of Government by Yuri Slezkine</p>.<p> Rebel Sultans by Manu S Pilla<br /> <br /> Proust’s Duchess by Caroline Weber</p>.<p> We That Are Young by Preti Taneja</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Shashi Deshpande</strong></p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong></strong> The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes by Janet Malcolm</p>.<p> Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K Massie</p>.<p> The Perfect Spy by John le Carre</p>.<p> Still Alice by Lisa Genova</p>.<p> Transcription by Kate Atkinson</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Raghu Karnad </strong></p>.<p class="CrossHead">Ants Among Elephants by Sujatha Gidla <br /><br />Brothers of the Gun by Molly Crabapple and Marwan Hisham</p>.<p>Goat Days by Benyamin</p>.<p>Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman</p>.<p>Indira Gandhi: Tryst With Power by Nayantara Sahgal</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Vivek Shanbhag</strong></p>.<p class="CrossHead"><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sunday-herald/sunday-herald-books/old-secrets-708327.html" target="_blank">Dark Circles </a>by Udayan Mukherjee<br /><br />The Double Death of Quincas Water-Bray by Jorge Amado</p>.<p>Meenupeteya Thiruvu: A collection of Kannada poems by Renuka Ramanand</p>.<p>Mallige Hoovina Sakha: A collection of Kannada stories by T S Goravara</p>.<p>There is Gunpowder in the Air: Bangla Original by Manoranjan Byapari; translated by Arunava Sinha</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Anita Nair</strong></p>.<p>Seasons of the Palm by Perumal Murugan</p>.<p>From A to X (A story in letters) by John Berger</p>.<p>In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin</p>.<p>The Colour by Rose Tremain</p>.<p>Offer Him All Things: Charred, Burned & Cindered by Kala Krishnan Ramesh</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Sharanya Manivannan</strong></p>.<p>The Elephant In The Room (anthology) </p>.<p>Diwali in Muzaffarnagar by Tanuj Solanki</p>.<p>Offer Him All Things... by Kala Krishnan Ramesh</p>.<p>Cyber Sexy by Richa Kaul Padte</p>.<p>Eating Wasps by Anita Nair</p>
<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Nayantara Sahgal</strong></p>.<p>Two great novels I have admired this year are: <strong>Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar</strong>, and<strong> I Have Become The Tide by Githa Hariharan</strong>. Nagarkar tells a story of the sordid uses of power in our feudal society, the living hell it makes for the poor and powerless, and how the human spirit rises above it. It has the gut-wrenching impact of all his fiction. You come away shaken and shocked. And so with Hariharan’s no-holds-barred novel, which describes what happens to those in our society who are condemned as untouchable but dare to dream of equality. A great non-fiction work I have read is <strong>The Free Voice by Ravish Kumar</strong>, writer, journalist, and TV anchor, whose book subtitled <strong>On Democracy, Culture And the Nation</strong> should be required reading for every Indian. This collection of his reaction to the political and social climate in India today, translated from the original Hindi, reveals a sensitive human being, deeply engaged with the times we are living in, and determined to speak out against injustice and horror, no matter what the cost.<br />What all three works have in common is the integrity of their writing and their writers.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Jayanth Kaikini </strong></p>.<ul> <li> <br /> Patniyaru Kandante Prasiddharu by B S Venkatalakshmi</li> <li> </li> <li> Maharashtrada Kannada Shaasanagala Sanskrithika Mahathva by Dr G N Upaadhya</li> <li> </li> <li> Dashaavathaara - Yakshagana Kalavida Maragodu Raam Hegde Athmakathe</li> <li> </li> <li> Diddi - My Mother’s Voice by Ira Pandey</li> <li> </li> <li> Stars From Another Sky — The Bombay film world in the 1940s by Saadat Hasan Manto</li></ul>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Aatish Taseer</strong></p>.<p> The Order of the Day by Eric Vuillard</p>.<p> The House of Government by Yuri Slezkine</p>.<p> Rebel Sultans by Manu S Pilla<br /> <br /> Proust’s Duchess by Caroline Weber</p>.<p> We That Are Young by Preti Taneja</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Shashi Deshpande</strong></p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong></strong> The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath & Ted Hughes by Janet Malcolm</p>.<p> Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K Massie</p>.<p> The Perfect Spy by John le Carre</p>.<p> Still Alice by Lisa Genova</p>.<p> Transcription by Kate Atkinson</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Raghu Karnad </strong></p>.<p class="CrossHead">Ants Among Elephants by Sujatha Gidla <br /><br />Brothers of the Gun by Molly Crabapple and Marwan Hisham</p>.<p>Goat Days by Benyamin</p>.<p>Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman</p>.<p>Indira Gandhi: Tryst With Power by Nayantara Sahgal</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Vivek Shanbhag</strong></p>.<p class="CrossHead"><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/sunday-herald/sunday-herald-books/old-secrets-708327.html" target="_blank">Dark Circles </a>by Udayan Mukherjee<br /><br />The Double Death of Quincas Water-Bray by Jorge Amado</p>.<p>Meenupeteya Thiruvu: A collection of Kannada poems by Renuka Ramanand</p>.<p>Mallige Hoovina Sakha: A collection of Kannada stories by T S Goravara</p>.<p>There is Gunpowder in the Air: Bangla Original by Manoranjan Byapari; translated by Arunava Sinha</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Anita Nair</strong></p>.<p>Seasons of the Palm by Perumal Murugan</p>.<p>From A to X (A story in letters) by John Berger</p>.<p>In a House of Lies by Ian Rankin</p>.<p>The Colour by Rose Tremain</p>.<p>Offer Him All Things: Charred, Burned & Cindered by Kala Krishnan Ramesh</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Sharanya Manivannan</strong></p>.<p>The Elephant In The Room (anthology) </p>.<p>Diwali in Muzaffarnagar by Tanuj Solanki</p>.<p>Offer Him All Things... by Kala Krishnan Ramesh</p>.<p>Cyber Sexy by Richa Kaul Padte</p>.<p>Eating Wasps by Anita Nair</p>
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