readersdigest.co.in 123seek out the original. Little did I know
that Menen was prosecuted under the
same Indian law (Indian Penal Code
295A) that was used against me in 2010.
Through the
Looking Glass
BY LEWIS CARROLL,
Puffin Classics, `299.
Having remained my fa-
vourite book since early
childhood, it’s both hi-
larious and philosophically profound, of-
ten drawing upon Indian philosophy and
logic for its insights, such as the idea that
we are all part of someone else’s dream.
The Interior Landscape
Love Poems from a Classical
Tamil Anthology
BY A. K. RAMANUJAN,NYRB Poets, `750.
While teaching in London, this book re-
vealed to me the wonderful interrela-
tionship between interior poetry (about
love, personal devotion) and exterior
poetry (about history, politics). Later I
often discussed his books, and so much
else, with the author Ramanujan, my
beloved colleague and friend in Chicago.
My Experiments with Truth:
An Autobiography
BY M. K. GANDHI,Jaico Publishing House,
`299.Gandhi’s life—the strange contrast
between his ascetic ideas and his politi-
cal savvy, and above all , his courage—
moved me deeply and made me want to
see India in its actuality as on the page.Haroun and the
Sea of Stories
BY SALMAN RUSHDIE,
Penguin India, `299.
Enriched with original
riffs on traditional story-
telling, Haroun delighted
me with its fantastical language and bril-
liant integration of Indian mythology.Afternoon Raag
BY AMIT CHAUDHURI, Penguin India, `223.
My favourite contemporary Indian
author, Chaudhuri writes just as Virginia
Woolf would have, had she lived in India.
His vivid evocation of women relaxing
in darkened rooms in the Calcutta heat
took me back to my own years in
Calcutta in 1963.
—COMPILED BY VANYA LOCHANKim
BY RUDYARD KIPLING, Rupa Publications India, `195. This is
a wonderful, knowing tale of India, not so much racist as
uncomfortably about racism (as Edward Said pointed out
in an appreciative essay). In this book, Kipling’s love of India
and individual Indians overcame his inbred prejudice.The Book
I Loved
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