India’s capital is a full, fascinating city with a long past that prompts a certain air of nostalgia in many writers. The best are able to capture its complex historical layers while addressing the facts of the modern metropolis, with all of the benefits and drawbacks of such a position. From a book-length poem about the love affair of a Sufi saint to a Booker-winning portrayal of the city’s class struggles, here are 10 great books about Delhi…
Jamali Kamali: A Tale of Passion in Mughal India
by Karen Chase
In the Mehrauli Archaeological Park on the outskirts of the city, the intricate and beautifully decorated 16th century tombs of Jamali and Kamali, a Sufi saint and the unknown man who, local lore suggests, was Jamali’s lover. Karen Chase’s book-length poem imagines the eternal love between the two.
A Situation in New Delhi
by Nayantara Sahgal
For an understanding of Indian politics in the 1970s (the time of Indira Gandhi’s infamous Emergency rule), the fiction of Nayantara Sahgal is a great place to start. She pulls no punches against Indira Gandhi, despite (or perhaps due to) being her first cousin.
Delhi Calm
by Vishwajyoti Ghosh
For an entirely different take on 1970s Delhi, this graphic novel ‘imagines’ what it was like to wake up to find that many basic rights and civil liberties had been suspended.
Clear Light of Day
by Anita Desai
Anita Desai was writing fiction in English long before many others in India. Her classic Clear Light of Day is set in Old Delhi, and is particularly perceptive on the roles and responsibilities of women in Indian society.
Delhi by Heart
by Raza Rumi
Raza Rumi writes about Delhi as few authors can. With deep cultural and familial connections to the Indian capital, yet a persona-non-grata when visiting the city as a Pakistani, he still achieves a warm and reflective portrait of the city as he sees it.
City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi
by William Dalrymple
Popular Scottish travel writer and historian William Dalrymple, who has lived in Delhi for many years, wrote this lively account of life in Delhi early in his career. It’s funny in a slightly ridiculous way that immigrants in India are sure to recognize and emphathize with.
The Heart Has its Reasons
by Krishna Sobti
Krishna Sobti is a celebrated Hindi writer, and The Heart Has its Reasons is the English translation of her Hindi novel Dil-o-Danish. It centers on a love affair between a courtesan’s daughter and a lawyer in the Old Delhi of the 1920s, capturing the beauty and history of the town.
Korma, Kheer & Kismet: Five Seasons in Old Delhi
by Pamela Timms
Don’t read this with an empty stomach or empty kitchen! Pamela Timms lived in Delhi as a ‘trailing spouse’ and enjoyed tracking down the most authentic Delhi dishes, recipes and background stories, all of which are contained in this new classic work of travel-food literature.
A Life Less Ordinary
by Baby Halder
For an entirely different perspective on life in the city, and in contemporary India generally, this is the autobiography/memoir of a domestic servant. Baby Halder’s love of reading was encouraged by her employer, who then urged her to write down her experiences. It was originally published in Hindi.
The White Tiger
by Aravind Adiga
Adiga’s debut novel won him the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2008. While plenty of writers have tackled the divide between rich and poor in contemporary India (and Delhi in particular), Adiga does so in a refreshingly irreverent, less earnest manner than many of his predecessors.
