1. The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga
Winner of the Man Booker prize, the novel made arvind adiga the second youngest author ever to win the prize . And it's not hard to see why, the novel succeeded in doing that what many before have tried to do and failed. It gave voice to the unspoken that exist in the darkness of the country, the colossal underclass and that too with an unmatched sense of wit and dark humor. And we live and hear it all through one of the most edgy protagonists you'd come across in a novel: Balram a village boy who works as a chauffeur to a rich landlord and then to Bangalore where he flees after committing murder. His story as twisted as it is represents much of the frustration of the youth in the country shackled by the invisible reins of steep class divide, caste divide and poverty ,
2. A Fine Balance by Robinton Mistry
Set in "an unidentified city" in India, initially in 1975 and later in 1984 during the turmoil: the book concerns four characters from varied background related to each other by an unseen thread of love.The philosophy of the story is the secret of survival, to balance finely hope and despair.But to realize most often we can't do so.Our balance of life tilts and we trip and are lost. Some embrace physical death ,some live half-alive. It exposes the changes in Indian society from independence in 1947 to the Emergency called by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. surprisingly she is never referred by name in the book
3. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
the novel is set in a newly post-independence, post-partition India. The novel follows four families during 18 months, and centres on Mrs. Rupa Mehra's efforts to arrange the marriage of her younger daughter, Lata, to a "suitable boy". Lata is a 19-year-old university student who refuses to be influenced by her domineering mother or opinionated brother, Arun. Her story revolves around the choice she is forced to make between her suitors Kabir, Haresh, and Amit.
It begins in the fictional town of Brahmpur, located along the Ganges between Banares and Patna. Brahmpur, along with Calcutta, Delhi, Lucknow and other Indian cities, forms a colourful backdrop for the emerging stories.
4. Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
Weighing in at 900 pages, the novel is Dickensian in scope, and part Godfather as well. Sacred Games follows a world-weary cop and a larger-than-life crime boss. Add in the world's largest film industry, Bollywood, a shady guru and the ever-present tension between India and Pakistan, and you have a full-blown literary potboiler.
The book is so full of gritty underworld slang that there's a glossary to help readers navigate the language. Sartaj sing, gaitonde and mumbai are the main characters of the novel which unfold and grab you by the throat.
5.The Inheritance Of Loss by Kiran desai
Published to extraordinary acclaim, The Inheritance of Loss heralds Kiran Desai as one of our most insightful novelists. She illuminates the pain of exile and the ambiguities of post-colonialism with a tapestry of colorful characters: an embittered old judge; Sai, his sixteen-year-old orphaned granddaughter; a chatty cook; and the cook’s son, Biju, who is hopscotching from one miserable New York restaurant to another, trying to stay a step ahead of the INS.
When a Nepalese insurgency in the mountains threatens Sai’s new-sprung romance with her handsome tutor, their lives descend into chaos. The cook witnesses India’s hierarchy being overturned and discarded. The judge revisits his past and his role in Sai and Biju’s intertwining lives. A story of depth and emotion, hilarity and imagination, The Inheritance of Loss tells “of love, longing, futility, and loss that is Desai’s true territory”
