A gift for my sister: Lata Mangeshkar unveils Hindi translation of memoir penned by singer Meena Khadikar

Published in 1986, this was Ghosh's debut novel. The book also won France’s prestigious Prix Médicis in 1990. Chronicling the adventures of a young weaver, Alu, an orphan, who is wrongly suspected of being a terrorist. The main protagonist encounters a host of characters on his exhaustive journey spanning borders. Alu travels from Kolkata to Goa and boards a fishing trawler that illegally ships immigrants to Africa. You will easily be drawn into their lives by various incidents which are compellingly told.

This is Ghosh's second novel and the winner of two prestigious Indian-origin awards, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Ananda Puraskar. Based primarily in Calcutta, Dhaka and London, the book is about a boy who visualises an image of London in his thoughts so vivid that when he visits the place years later, he recognises it just from the way he had imagined it to be. The novel is full of characters and colour.

Again an award-winning classic from Ghosh's stable. The book which was published in 1996 won the Arthur C. Clarke Award. The novel which is in an interesting flashback format, begins in the future and dates back to the 19th century. The central character, L.Murugan is in search of what is known as 'The Calcutta Chromosome', trying to solve the mystery behind malaria in 1898 in Calcutta. The book follows events from the Victorian era to near-future New York.

Winner of the International e-Book Award at the Frankfurt book fair in 2001, the novel is set in the British era in the year 1885. The book is about a poor boy from a village who goes on to create an empire in the Burmese teak forest. Ghosh beautifuly weaves the struggles behind what have created the legacy of India, Burma and Malaysia.

The 2008 novel was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize(2008) and was awarded the Crossword Book Prize and the India Plaza Golden Quill Award. Set in the period of colonial upheaval, Ghosh beautifully describes the lush poppy fields of the Ganga, rolling high seas, and the streets of Canton. This masterpiece encapsulates the colonial history of the East, amking everything seem alive.