Want to know what books Lord Meghnad Desai recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Lord Meghnad Desai's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Every sixth human being in the world today is an Indian, and every sixth Indian is an untouchable. For thousands of years the untouchables, or Dalits, the people at the bottom of the Hindu caste system, have been treated as subhuman. In this remarkable book, at last giving voice to India’s voiceless, Narendra Jadhav tells the awe-inspiring story of his family’s struggle for equality and justice in India. Based on his father’s diaries and family stories, Jadhav has written the triumphant story of his parents—their great love, unwavering courage, and eventual victory in the struggle to free... more Every sixth human being in the world today is an Indian, and every sixth Indian is an untouchable. For thousands of years the untouchables, or Dalits, the people at the bottom of the Hindu caste system, have been treated as subhuman. In this remarkable book, at last giving voice to India’s voiceless, Narendra Jadhav tells the awe-inspiring story of his family’s struggle for equality and justice in India. Based on his father’s diaries and family stories, Jadhav has written the triumphant story of his parents—their great love, unwavering courage, and eventual victory in the struggle to free themselves and their children from the caste system. He vividly brings his parents’ world to light and unflinchingly documents the lives of untouchables—the hunger, the cruel humiliations, the perpetual fear, and the brutal abuse. Untouchables is an eye-opening work that gives readers insight into the lives of India’s 165 million Dalits, whose struggle for equality continues even today. less See more recommendations for this book...
2
The key book on India in the postnuclear era, with a new Introduction by the author.Our appreciation of the importance of India can only increase in light of the recent revelations of its nuclear capabilities. Sunil Khilnani's exciting, timely study addresses the paradoxes and ironies of this, the world's largest democracy. Throughout his penetrating, provocative work, he illuminates this fundamental issue: Can the original idea of India survive its own successes? more The key book on India in the postnuclear era, with a new Introduction by the author.Our appreciation of the importance of India can only increase in light of the recent revelations of its nuclear capabilities. Sunil Khilnani's exciting, timely study addresses the paradoxes and ironies of this, the world's largest democracy. Throughout his penetrating, provocative work, he illuminates this fundamental issue: Can the original idea of India survive its own successes? less 
Lord Meghnad DesaiA very intellectual book, written to mark the 50th anniversary of independence. It’s a Nehruvian book, with the idea of the synthesis of Hindu and Muslim. (Source)
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3
In the early 19th century, in a small village in Northern India, a 13 years old Brahmin widow meets a Muslim Sarangi player, and elopes with him. Many years later, their daughter Jaddanbai moves to Bombay, and becomes a star of the early talkies. more In the early 19th century, in a small village in Northern India, a 13 years old Brahmin widow meets a Muslim Sarangi player, and elopes with him. Many years later, their daughter Jaddanbai moves to Bombay, and becomes a star of the early talkies. less Lord Meghnad DesaiIt is by my wife and Darlingji is what Nargis and Sunil Dutt called each other. Their love story has its roots in the partition. (Source)
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5
A magisterial account of the pains, the struggles, the humiliations, and the glories of the world's largest and least likely democracy, Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi is a breathtaking chronicle of the brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation and the extraordinary factors that have held it together. An intricately researched and elegantly written epic history peopled with larger-than-life characters, it is the work of a major scholar at the peak of his abilities... more A magisterial account of the pains, the struggles, the humiliations, and the glories of the world's largest and least likely democracy, Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi is a breathtaking chronicle of the brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation and the extraordinary factors that have held it together. An intricately researched and elegantly written epic history peopled with larger-than-life characters, it is the work of a major scholar at the peak of his abilities... less 
Kaushik BasuAs a book on recent India, it’s one of the best, maybe the best, that I’ve read – a mammoth amount of information, put together in a way that anybody can read. (Source)
Pankhuri PathakIf I were only allowed...
One cuisine: Mughlai
One author: J K Rowling
One musician: Jagjeet Singh
One season: Monsoon
One city: Varanasi
One game: Tekken 3
One book: India After Gandhi by Ramchandra Guha
One movie: PS I Love You
One colour: Black
How about you? https://t.co/yG0cfCzRBj (Source)
Patrick FrenchIt gets right inside that period of the first few decades after independence in a way that I don’t think any other book does. (Source)
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