South Asian writers
I take this opportunity to thank Yasmeen Murshed for her excellent column on books. Her column ('Post colonial fiction,' Saturday, 24/01/04), was a very good reading. In fact, the whole range of writers in English from South Asia, right from RK Narayan to Jhumpa Lahiri, have enriched the world of literature. I agree with Ms Murshed that Vikram Seth is one of the best, although I have other favourites like Manohar Malgonkar's 'The Princes', Anita Desai's 'Baumgartner's Bombay', not to mention some fictions by the grand old master, R K Narayan and others. Rushdie's 'Haroon and the Sea of Stories' is good but certainly not one of top class.
My admiration for Vikram Seth has been growing since reading his first fiction in rhyme, 'The Golden Gate' to which my attention was drawn after reading a review by Khuswant Singh who was almost lyrical in praising the first fiction by an Indian (Vikram by then had written his other book 'From Heaven Lake' a travelogue on Tibet) written in English.
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