Skip the English novels and pick one of these for their layered characters and beautiful narrations

The great heritage of India not just brings with it the age-old traditions and cultures but a vast collection of Hindi literature by authors that have given the Hindi language its due credit. It is through the writing of these authors that people have fallen in love with Hindi and have been able to romanticize with the language.

Munshi Premchand He is hands down one of the most prolific Hindi writers in the history of Hindi literature. The most influential Hindi novelist of all time, he is recognized for his simplistic writing style. For him, literature was a means of depicting honest life experiences and he never fabricated his characters. His notable work includes Godaan, Bazaar-e- Husn, Gaban, Nirmala, and Shatranj Ke Khiladi among others.  He is also hailed as the upanyas samrat meaning ‘king of novels’.

Phanishwar Nath ‘RENU’ After Premchand, Nath is regarded as one of the most substantial Hindi novelist, famous for his first book Maila Anchal. He is known to have familiarized local Hindi with his book Khari Boli. Renu is also known to be the actual reason for bringing out religious opinion among people in India. His other works like Aanchalik Upanyas brought to fore the expression of contemporary rural India into Hindi literature. A short story of his was made into the film ‘Teesri Manzil’.

Krishna Sobti A fiction writer, Sobti is considered the grande dame of Hindi literature. Her Mitro Marajani portrays a married woman in an unapologetic manner and has put to play an ingenious language, presenting an exhilarating picture of women. Her experiments with new writing techniques opened a whole new avenue in the world of Hindi literature. She is also the recipient of Sahithya Academi Award for her novel Zindaginama.

Amrita Pritam This is one name that a literature lover, irrespective of the language, would have come across in their lifetime. One of her famous works is Pinjar that not only won her many awards but was also adapted into a movie. A writer and a poet, Pritam’s uniqueness comes from her Punjabi background that brought distinctiveness to her work. She was the first women to receive Sahitya Akademi award followed by Padma Sri in 1969 and Padma Vibhushan in 2004.

Bhisham Sahni A writer and actor, Sahni is famous for his novel ‘Tamas’, an account of the Partition of India. It is his combination of local language Urdu and Punjabi which makes the reader fall in love with his writing. His other works include Chief Ki Davat and Amritsar Aa Gaye Hain, among others.

The other magnificent Hindi writers that one should read are Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, Sri Lal Shukla, Surendra Verma and Yashpal among others.