summer picks

Our Must-Reads List for June

June is here and we’re ready with the list of books we want to read during the month. To start with, there’s Taran Khan’s account of her travels in Afghanistan, based on a series of visits to Kabul over almost a decade, followed by Manu S Pillai’s taking a stand for India’s Maharajas of yore, who he says weren’t exactly as useless as the British (and their historians) would have us believe. Next up is a look at the life and times of Ramanand Sagar, the man behind Ramayan, one of the most successful television series in India ever. TV has changed completely in the decades that have passed since, but it would be interesting to look back at the pre-OTT days and see what went into making a massively successful epic that’s remembered to this day. Then, an autobiography of former chief election commissioner T N Seshan, a man we wish were still around to oversee next year’s Lok Sabha elections. And finally, adventures in the Russia of the 1990s, and a Scandinavian-origin Indian novelist’s tales of eating and drinking his way across India. Let’s get started.