78th Independence Day: How Indian novels redefined national identity

Several Indian authors have made a lasting impact on global literature with their groundbreaking works. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children (1981) blended magic realism with the socio-political complexities of post-colonial India, earning widespread acclaim. Vikram Seth's The Golden Gate (1986) and A Suitable Boy (1993) garnered him literary fame for his innovative verse and epic storytelling. Amitav Ghosh's The Shadow Lines (1988) explored historical events and the futility of borders, while Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997) captivated readers with its narrative richness and won the Booker Prize. Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss (2007) made her the youngest female Booker Prize winner with its incisive look at globalization and immigration. Finally, Amish Tripathi’s The Immortals of Meluha (2010) initiated the popular mythological genre in Indian literature, marking a significant trend with its Shiva Trilogy.

Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie
Published in 1981, Salman Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’ went on to win the Booker, Best of the Booker Prize and James Tait Memorial Prize. A loose allegory of events in 1947, with the protagonist born at the exact moment when India became an independent country, ‘Midnight’s Children’ became a landmark novel for its ability to intricately weave socio-political complexities of post-colonial India with magic realism.
The Golden Gate & A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
Published in 1986, The Golden Gate made Vikram Seth a literary household name in India, and in the US. The novel, written in verse composed of 590 Onegin stanzas, was inspired by Charles Johnston’s translation of Pushkin’s ‘Eugene Onegin’. Seven years later, Seth came up with another blockbuster novel – A Suitable Boy – spanning 1,488 pages (paperback), making it one of the longest novels published in a single volume.
The Shadow Lines, Amitav Ghosh
The novel, published in 1988, is set against the backdrop of historical events like the Swadeshi Movement, World War II, Partition and communal riots of 1963-64 in Dhaka and Calcutta. The futility of border lines is presented through these events.
God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
“The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. That is their mystery and their magic,” wrote Arundhati Roy in her debut novel, ‘The God of Small Things’, which bagged the Booker Prize in 1997. Then Harper Collins’ editor Pankaj Mishra sent the draft of the novel to British publishers and Roy received a £500,000 advance. Rights to the book were sold in 21 countries.
Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai
Her mother, Anita Desai, was a trailblazer, with novels like the iconic ‘Clear Light of Day’. When Kiran Desai went up to receive the Man Booker Prize in 2007 for ‘The Inheritance of Loss,’ she was – at 35 -- the youngest female author to be awarded this prize, creating literary history. Set in the mid-90s, the book was hailed by critics as a keen, richly descriptive analysis of globalisation, terrorism and immigration.
The Immortals of Meluha, Amish Tripathi
When ‘The Immortals of Meluha’, Amish Tripathi's first novel, was published in 2010, it started a new trend in Indian writing – the mythological novel. It was the first in the Shiva Trilogy, with ‘The Secret of the Nagas’ and ‘The Oath of the Vayuputras’ following in 2011 and 2013.