Today is World Book Day. And what better way to celebrate than by reading books. We have prepared the perfect list of run-of-the-mill books for you. Here are some unique graphic novels by Indian authors for those of you who want a slightly hatke reading list this summer.
1. Kari by Amruta Patil
Kari is the story of a young woman in search of her ‘self’. The novel touches upon the subject of same sex love. The protagonist suffers from heartache and loneliness as her lover has abandoned her. The story is also representative of the society that Kari inhabits. It shows the inner and outer turmoil of a homosexual person living in a society that is highly heterosexual. What’s interesting is the setting of the novel. Its cosmopolitan backdrop makes one expect the people to be progressive and open-minded. But what we find is on the contrary. The suffocating heteronormativity is unmistakable and ever-present in the so-called ‘modern’.
2. Delhi Calm by Vishwajyoti Ghosh
Imagine waking up one morning to learn that all your rights as a citizen are suspended this moment onwards. Delhi Calm tells the story of the national capital during the infamous Emergency of 1975. Though it’s fiction, the author has used strands of the real here and there. The book narrates the story of three different people and their vastly different perspectives of the times they live in. It is a great read for anyone who wants to get a glimpse of all that transpired during that ill-fated period.
3. Drawing the Line: Indian Women Fight Back by Various
Who doesn’t remember the horrific incident of 16 December, 2012! In the aftermath, thousands of people from all walks of life came out on the streets demanding justice for ‘Nirbhaya’ and a safer society for women. It is against this backdrop that this anthology of 14 pictorial stories is set. It shows the living experiences of women – how they negotiate fear, anger; remain hopeful for better times ahead; and continue their battle for change.
P.S. This book is a result of a week-long workshop that was held in Delhi.
4. Munnu by Malik Sajad
Munnu is an unusually beautiful graphic novel. You will find no human faces. Instead we have hanguls, an endangered species of deer found in Kashmir. The story is about a seven-year old boy Munnu and his experiences and conflicts. And through Munnu’s conflicts, the reader gets a glipmse into the conflicted land of Kashmir. Munnu loves to draw. And the backdrop in which he is growing up gets reflected in his art. The innocent sketches of Chinar leaves give way for a drawing of an AK-47. The novel is well-informed in its presentation of the region. Rather than blaming a particular side, it questions the roles and responsibilities of each party – from history to the present times. The sombre black and white charcoal-ish sketches remind one of German expressionism that goes quite well with the storyline.
5. All Quiet in Vikaspuri by Sarnarth Banerjee
If I say Sarnath Banerjee, you will say Corridor. But the graphic novel that caught my attention was his All Quiet in Vikaspuri. The book talks about water wars in Delhi in a dystopian future, with people and neighbourhoods brutally fighting over water. What hits home is the fact that this might not be a fictitious story anymore but rather the stark reality of the present. The protagonist, Girish, is a plumber who embarks on a journey to the centre of the Earth to find the mythical Saraswati river. While Girish is on his epic misson, the readers are given an insight to the myopic ignorance of the urban population. For example, when some residents are asked as to where their water comes from, they reply “the building”. The book has a satirical vein and just stops short from being preachy. What’s most appealing is that the story holds a mirror to the dystopian reality we are living in at his moment. It agitates you and you cannot help but think that just like the Saraswati, water will also become a mythical story in the times to come.
