5 Non-fiction books that rocked Indian Literary World in 2009

It’s comparably late to start listing out any kind of list based on 2009 events,because we are already in 2010 but I am still listing.It’s because of my teachers,surprised!,no really I mean it they always taught ’slow and steady win the race’ and I rarely doubted them(we are too lame to ask question to our gurus),so here I am with my list of five non-fiction books that rocked Indian literary world.

Non-fiction is not very glamorous and glittery genre like fiction in India but yeah some star performers are also there,We have a politician,a fitness expert,a Nobel prize winner,so let me introduce our first and foremost in the list.

1. Jinnah India- partition independence by Jaswant Singh:-

Jaswant Singh literally rocked Indian politics by this book, he was shown door by his own party and I am sure only few politicians have read this book but every one loath this book .The reason is quite simple the name of the book.:) It contains Jinnah the most loathing personality for politicians, what a great hypocrisy;).But apart from politics circuit book was a real hit in literary world,might be controversy around it is the reason.But the Jaswant Singh takes on Jinnah,and India partition is not our conventional view but it takes a different path.It tries to put light on other factors also related to partition,in my view book is little bit partial towards Jinnah’s role but it is still a really good attempt to analyse our past.History is best place to look into for better future and this book gives a glimpse of darkest past of India-Pak relationship.

2. Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight by Rujuta Diwekar :-

Second position goes to this diet-book.It really win second place because it’s a best take on weight lose by an Indian author so far,and finally we have a book on weight lose which is totally desi.The author is a celebrity trainer and her most famous client is Kareena Kapoor. Kareena’s new look can be attributed to Rujuta’s training.Book is not selling hopes to convert you into size zero in 10 days if you follow a diet of Karela soup for 10-days as usual diet-books suggest(my hypothetical diet actually ) but it’s real in term

of its ingredients.The biggest success factor is simple and humors language and Indian diets which

is very rare in other Indian diet-book(actually I don’t know other diet book by any Indian author).

3.A better India,A better World by N R Narayana Murty:-

This book is a compilation of 38 speeches of Narayana Murty and book is not about his business territory but it’s more about his thoughts on Indianess and as I was expecting, it’s a effective attempt by Murty.He writes about different issues like leadership,values and education.His comparison between Pizza eating urban youth and hungry lower class is not just another criticism which we hear but he provides value based solutions to problems which India is facing.This book is more of a Corporate Social Responsibility book and it’s basic core values are honesty,hard work and values.Murty perfectly able to convey these values to the readers

4.The Laws of the Spirit World by Bhavnagri Khorshed


From the moment I heard about this book from a friend,I was very curious about this book,I don’t have any liking about self-help books but I was also curious about the mysteries of death and his friends(Coldplay can sue me for using its album name ),and this book is a real life take on life and death.A strange man became a medium of communication between dead sons(they died in a tragic car accident) of Khorshed and Rumi Bhavnagari.One thing is clear about this book either you will believe in it or you will not but it will have a great effect on you that is sure.Questions like Can we see our loved ones after we die?,Why do good people suffer while the bad people succeed?,What about Hell and Heaven?,Is there life after death? are the most haunting ones and this book is able to give answers to all of these questions using astral plane, ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), telepathy, silver cord, etc.Actually I still don’t believe in those answers but defiantly it’s good to have answers than no answers at all.

5.The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen


I am a very big fan of Amartya Sen but why I was a fan that’s was a mystery before reading this book but after this book I got a clear reason.Before this book I know him a man who declared famines do not occur in properly functioning democracies with a free press.And after this book many things I added in my little dictionary but the most important thing what I got from this book is there is no pure justice kind of thing as modern political philosophers try to establish,they are concerned with finding the right rules, institutions and social contracts for a just society. For Sen justice is a comparative one which examines what kind of lives people can actually lead.And he explained lives people can actually lead is according to “capabilities” or, as he explains, “the power to do something”.His idea of freedom is not to use own devices but to provide necessary resources to enhance their capabilities.He used our history to give an idea about debate between two thoughts of justice, the debate between 3rd-century emperor Ashoka, a liberal optimist, and Kautilya, a downbeat institutionalist, is much more enlightening.A must read to enlighten our mind about justice.

So list can be much more than be restricted as five books list of Indian writers so I like to recommend some other good reads of last year in non fiction.

Other Recommended non-fiction books:-

a.) The Difficulty Of Being Good Gurcharan Das:-A unconventional reinvention of Mahabharat.

b.)The Rediscovery of India by Meghnad Desai:-A look into India as a united nation for last 60-years despite its diversity

Two notable non-fiction of last year about India by foreign authors Nine Lives by William Dalrymple and The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger.

So as the list is over I like to share a puzzle about justice,it’s extracted from The idea of justice,it’s goes like this Suppose three children—Anne, Bob, and Carla—quarrel over a flute. Anne says it’s hers because she’s the only one who knows how to play it. Bob counters that he’s the poorest and has no toys, so the flute would at least give him something to play with. Carla reminds Anne and Bob that she built the darn thing, and no sooner did she finish it than the other two started trying to take it away.

So What’s your take on justice??

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