I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar,
I speak three languages, write in
Two, dream in one.
– Kamala Das

I am a book worm. I love reading a good book, a book that ports me to a distant land where I walk on streets filled with people who speak strange tongues. It gives me an opportunity to live lives I never will. They also tell me that people may look different, the landscapes contrasting to the ones I am used to to but beneath all these superficial differences rests an ocean of similarities. The emotions we feel, the hopes we have and the faiths we hold on to are the same no matter which part of the world you are from.

My staple diet of desi literature includes Malayalam fiction and Bengali translations into Malayalam. I have probably read a handful of Marathi and Kannada translations. I am not talking about Indian authors writing in English but Indian authors writing in their vernacular languages. I wanted to read these books originally written in a language I do not speak. As a reader you are a shadow of the characters, silently following them as they go about their business, watching them interact and reveal their stories. I want to read the stories that the authors have woven about people, traditions and landscapes that are theirs.

My plan is to read a book every week. A book from each state by an author from that state. Most books would’ve been translated to english or Malayalam, my most comfortable turfs. I am ready to accept that some essence might be lost in translation. I have listed out a few books that I have shortlisted. I am still working on rest of the states and languages. I am dependent on Amazon Kindle Australia, book depository and kindness of my family in sourcing books.

Sometime in 2018, I decided it was time for me to make an effort in reading more Indian books.

I am owned by a dachshund named Totto who thinks he owns my sofa, blanket and half of my bed. When I am not playing butler to the above said, my mundane life is made exciting by a messy but loving husband and a loud but adorable toddler.