Decolonizing My Literary Diet With the “Read India Challenge”

How I reconnected with my roots by reading a book by an Indian author every month for a year

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A few years ago, I realized how shockingly absent Indian literature has been from my literary diet, thanks to years of colonial indoctrination, my own lack of interest, and limited to no access to Indian books or conversations about them whether in book clubs or bookstores where I live.

I resolved to read more Indian literature to better acquaint myself with it, and came up with my own reading challenge: to read one book by an Indian author every month for a year.

One book a month was doable for me. I didn’t want to restrict myself to only Indian literature; I’m a moody reader and enjoy reading diverse styles and genres. I also wanted to read more of the books I already owned, and I had quite a few titles to choose from.

Through this challenge, I travelled across India — from the backwaters of Kerala in the south to the misty mountains of Kalimpong in the north — and beyond. Not all the books were based in India, and a couple of the authors were of other nationalities but of Indian origin. I also learnt a lot about the social and political struggles plaguing different communities that I’d rarely heard about as an…