Hindi

Every person has two sides. Things are never as they seem and this is exemplified through this poignant story. This is a book which is popular for being a marvel by itself.

This is the heart-rending love story of an 18-year-old lady. She meets her lover, but she doesn’t tell him who she is; she writes a long letter immersed in pain during her last moments. She reveals that she was the mother of his child and the child was now dead.

This is the story of the eponymous character Nirmala, a fifteen-year-old girl who is forced to marry a man almost her fathers age. One of the most popular novels of its time, Nirmala depicts the Indian society and the condition of women in it. A heart-rending read, the novel continues to remain a bestseller years after its first publication.

He was the Quasimodo who rang the chapel bell. The ugly hunchback of Notre Dame. He was built so strangely that he was immediately elected the pope of the fools. This is his story.

An old couple receives a day-old female goat kid as a gift from the cosmos. Thus begins the story of Poonachi, the little orphan goat. As you follow her story from forest to habitation, independence to motherhood, you recognise in its significant moments the depth and magnitude of your own fears and longings, fuelled by the instinct for survival that animates all life. Masterly and nuanced, Perumal Murugans tale forces us reflect on our own responses to hierarchy and ownership, selflessness and appetite, love and desire, living and dying.