SUGGESTED PRE-DEPARTURE READING
The following list contains books suggested by former Fulbright participants. Read as much as you
possibly can, as it will enhance your experience. If you can read only one of them, choose from the
Collins/ Lapierre books or the Bouton book on India.
Agnes, Flavia, Law and Gender Inequality: The politics of women’s rights in India, Oxford
University Press, New Delhi, 1999
Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable
Basham, A.L. The Wonder That Was India.
Bouton, Marshall & Philip Oldenburg, eds. Indian Briefing. New York: The Asia Society, I988.
Collins, Larry and Dominique Lapierre. City of Joy. - Freedom at Midnight. (Both in paperback)
Coomaraswamy, A.K. History of Indian and Indonesia Art.
Dalal, Roshan A History of India
Debary, Theodore. Sources of Indian Tradition, Vols. I & II
Desai, Anita. Clear Light of Day - Games at Twilight
Fishlock, Trevor. India File - Gandhi's Children.
Gadgil, Madhav, Diversity
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer. Esmond in India
- Get Ready for Battle
- Heat and Dust
- How I Became a Holy Mother
Koller, John M., The Indian Way
Krishnamurthi, J., The Flight of the Eagle (Any other Krishnamurthi book)
Markandaya, Kamala, A Handful of Rice- - Nectar in a Sieve
Mehta, Ved, Face to Face
Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles
- The New India
- Line Photographs of Chachaji
- Walking the Indian Streets
Mehta, Rama, Inside the Haveli
Naipaul, V.S., India: A Wounded Civilization
Narayan, R. K., The Guide
- Malgudi Days
- The English Teacher
- The Painter of Signs
- The Vendor of Sweets
- Waiting for the Mahatma
Nehru, Jawaharlal, The Discovery of India
Rawlinson, H.G., India, a Short Cultural History
Roy, Arundhati, A God of Small Things
Sen, Paritosh, A Tree in my Village
Seymour, Susan C., Women, Family and Child Care in India, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1999
Smith, H. Daniel, The Picturebook Ramayana
Tagore, Rabindranath, Home and the World -- (Any other Tagore book)
Thapar, Romila, A History of India
Watson, Francis, A Concise History of India, with I82 illustrations (paper)
Wolpert, Stanley, A New History of India, 2nd ed. (paperback)
Travel Books:
Bradnock, Robert and Roma: Footprint - India Handbook
(www.footprintbooks.com)
India, a Travel Survival Kit (Lonely Planet Publications)
India on $I5 & $25 a Day. (Arthur Frommer/Jan Aaron)
Royston Ellis India by rail (Hunter Publications, New Jersey)
Say It in Hindi. (Dover Publications, New York)
-
Books on Indian Classical Dance Forms:
Classical Dances of India by Saroja Vaidyanathan.
Classical Dances and Costumes of India by Kay Ambrose
Kuchipudi: Indian Classical Dance Art by Sunil Kothari & Avinash Pasricha
Mohiniattam - the Dance of the Enchantress by Geeta Radhakrishna
Bharata Natyam: From Temple to Theatre by Anne-Marie Gaston
Kathak by Trilok Gurtu
Art of Kathakali by Avinash C. Pandeya
Odissi Dance by D.N. Patnaik
Manipuri Dances: Lasya Lahari by Leela Row Dayal
The Performing Arts of India by Sharon Lowen
Indian Classical and Folk Music:
The
`travel
guide
Great Composers by Dr. Raja Tirumalla
Indian Poetry:
Indian Poetry by Edwion Arnold
Two Decades of Indian Poetry by Keki N. Duruwalla
Ancient Ballads of India:An Anthropology of Indian Poetry by Pranab Bandhopadhyay
Bollywood:
Bollywood: the Indian Cinema Story by Nasreen Munni Kabir
Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire by Vijay Mishra
The Bollywood Saga by Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari
Books on Indian Cuisine:
Fun and Easy Cooking by Tarla Dalal
Exotic Indian Recipes by Vincent Joseph
Street Foods of India by Vimla and Deb Kumar Mukherjee
Indian Vegetarian Cookbook by Nita Mehta
Indian Textiles:
Handbook of Textiles by P.V. Vidyasagar
Fabric Art Heritage of India by Sukla Das
Handcrafted Indian Textiles edited by Martand Singh
Indian Costume by G.S Ghurye
The Indian Fashion Designs by K. Prakash
Indian Jewellery:
Traditional Jewellery of India by Oppi Untrachat
Maharajas' Jewels by Katherine Prior
Indian Jewellery: Dance of the Peacock by Usha R. Bala Krishnan
Jewels of the Nizams by Usha R. Bala Krishnan
Silver Speaks: Traditional Jewellery of the Middle East by Joyce Diamanti
Ethnic Jewellery by John Mack
Architecture in India
Architecture in India by Marilia Albanese
Buddhist and Hindu Architecture in India by Satish Grover.
Concept of Environment in Ancient Art and Architecture by A.P. Singh.
Contemporary Indian Architecture : Housing and Urban Development edited by M.N. Joglekar and S.K.
Das
Delhi : A Thousand Years of Building by Lucy Peck
The Design Development of Indian Architecture by Claude Batley
Development of Temple Architecture in India by Shashipriya Dei
Fatehpur Sikri and Its Monuments by R. Nath
Monumental Legacy: Churches of Goa by Josè Pereira
New Indian Homes: An Architectural Renaissance by Sarbjit Bahga and Surinder Bahga
Books on Religion in India:
Hindu: Joy of Life by Utpal K Banerjee
The Bhagwat Gita by John Davies
Gods Beyond Temple by by Harsha Dahejia
Luminous Kashi to Vibrant Varanasi by K Chandramouli
The Swastika: The Earliest Known Symbol and its Migration by Thomas Wilson
Hinduism and Islam in India by S V Desika Char
Islam in the Era of Globalization: Muslim Attitudes Towards Modernity and Identity edited by Johan
Meuleman
Religionen - Islam in the Indian Subcontinent by Annemarie Schimmel
Adi Granth: The Holy Scripture of the Sikhs by Ernest Trumpp
Sikhs and Sikhism by W. H. McLeod
A Comprehensive History of Jainism Part 1 and 2 by Asim Kumar Chaterjee
A Short Reader to Jain Doctrines by Hemchand Jain
Introduction to Budhism by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Teach Yourself Buddhism by Anthony Flanagan
Books on Ramayana:
The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan
A Tale of Gods and Demons: Ramayana by R Prime
The Song of Rama by Vanamali
Ramayana by Krishna Dharma
Ramayana by William Buck, S Triest (Illustrator)
Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God by Jonah Blank
Ramayana in Indian Art and Epigraphy by Kranth Choudary & C Udayalakshmi
India’s Independence Struggle:
India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
Raj: The making and Unmaking of British India by Lawrence James
Great Mutiny: India 1857 by Christopher Hibbert
Indian Economy:
Propelling India From Socialist Stagnation to Global Power by Arvind Virmani
Who Benefits From India’s Public Services? By Samuel Paul
To the Nation for the Nation: Selected Speeches of Dr. Manmohan Singh edited by Raj Kapila
India in a Globalizing World by R. Radhakrishna
Globalization, Economic Reforms and Employment Strategy in India by S P Gupta
Indian Industry:
Trade and Commerce in Ancient India by Haripada Chakraborti
Labour Welfare in India Industry by Krishna Kumar Mishra
Tax Incentives for Indian Industry by Dalip Singh
Privatization in Indian Industry by Sudhanshu Bhushan
Import of Capital and Technology: A Study of Foreign Collaborations in Indian Industry by K K
Subramaniah
Indian Manager: His Social Origin and Career by Sagar C. Jain
Indian Women (women in India):
Great Women of India: Leaders-Saints-Warriors-Artistes-Writers by K.S. Bhalla
Indian Women by Priyanka Tomar
Women Education in India: Issues and Dimensions by Gouri Srivastava
Women in Agriculture: Strategy for Socio-Economic Empowerment by K.P. Wasnik
'And Who Will Make the Chapatis?' : A Study of All-Women Panchayats in Maharashtra edited by
Bishakha Datta
Ardhanarishvara: The Androgyne Probing the Gender Within by Alka Pande
The Better Half: Mothers, Sisters, Wives and Homemakers by Sumati Karmakar
Indian Family System:
Modern Indian Family by Werner Menski
Notes on Love in a Tamil Family by Margeret Trawick
Marriage Made in Heaven by Vatsala Sperling
Books that Teachers of Primary Schools can use for their Students
Amar Chitra Katha Series (illustrated stories for children)
Jataka Tales
Panchatantra Story books
ABC Naturally by Mamta Pandya
Beastly Tales from Here and There by Vikram Seth
Gandhi: The Man of Peace by Manorma Jafa
Good Show Raju by B. Fatimi
Books on Education System in India:
Development of Education System in India edited by AR Rather
Education in India Today by Dhurjati Mukherjee
Recent Philosophies of Education in India by S.P. Chaube
Women Education in India: Issues and Dimensions by Gouri Srivastava
Administration and Management in Elementary School by Chhaya Shukla
Adult Education: Millennium Challenges by C.K. Pathak
Basic Education by edited by S. Venkataiah
Changing Attitudes to Education in India by K. Venkata Reddy
Classroom Teaching : Methods and Practices by A.K. Nayak and V.K. Rao
Comparative Education: A Comparative Study of Educational Systems by Y.K. Sharma
Books on Indus Valley Civilization
Indus River Valley Civilization by Jacob Eapen
Ungendering Civilization by K. Anne Pyburn
Ancient Civilization and Trade by Jeremy A. Sabloff
Authors to look for (among others):
Bhabani Bhattacharya
Bryn Gunnell
Kamala Markandaya
Kamala Das
Khushwant Singh
Mulk Raj Anand
Premchand
Raja Rao
Rajagopalachari
Rama Mehta
Thakazhi S. Pillai
Arundhati Roy
Aneez Jung
READING ABOUT INDIA ONLINE
Father of the Nation: Mahatma Gandhi
http://www.mahatma.org.in
Rock Paintings in India
https://www.vedamsbooks.com/bookson.htm
Indus Valley Civilization
http://archaeology.about.com/od/indusrivercivilizations/
Vedic Mathematics
http://www.hinduism.co.za/vedic.htm
http://www.vedicmaths.org/
Indian Cuisine and Recipes
www.food-india.com
http://www.ruchiskitchen.com/
http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/indian
www.sanjeevkapoor.com
http://www.bennett.com/curry/archives/cat_punjab.php
http://www.exit109.com/~mstevens/indian.shtml
http://www.gadnet.com/foodx.htm
Indian Dairy Revolution
www.amul.com
Green Revolution in India
http://www.indiaonestop.com/Greenrevolution.htm
http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/bio/green.htm
Religion:
About Ramayana
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/mythology/ramayan/
Sikhism
The Sikh Way of Life by Ranbir Singh (ebook)
http://allaboutsikhs.com/books/
www.omsakthi.org/books/books_sikhism.html
Jainism
https://www.vedamsbooks.com/jainism.htm
http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/jainhlinks.html
Hinduisim
http://www.vivekanandagospel.org/links.htm
http://www.hinduism.co.za/
Islam
www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm
Children’s Books online
http://www.anada.com/anada/index.htm
http://www.indiaparenting.com/stories/index.htm
http://www.karaditales.com/
http://www.pcmmagazine.com/
Bollywood
http://worldfilm.about.com/cs/booksbolly/index.htm
http://www.indianmoviemart.com