RAG Demo

Tag: Romance

  • Gunahon Ka Devta

    Gunahon Ka Devta, published in 1949, is set in Allahabad among university people. Chandar is a brilliant research student who owes much to his professor, Dr Shukla, and spends his days in the professor's house. The professor's daughter Sudha is playful, affectionate and utterly devoted to Chandar, and everyone around them senses a love that neither will name.

    Chandar has built an ideal of pure, almost worshipful love and refuses to let it become ordinary romance or marriage, partly out of loyalty to his mentor and partly out of fear of his own feelings. His choices draw in other women: Pammi, an Anglo-Indian divorcee who offers a frank physicality he both craves and despises, and Binti, Sudha's cousin. The cost of his idealism falls hardest on Sudha.

    The novel's lush, emotional prose made it a phenomenon among young Hindi readers, and it has gone through a vast number of reprints. Read today, it is also a critique of a hero whose high-mindedness masks cowardice and whose purity damages those he claims to adore. An English translation by Poonam Saxena appeared as Chandar and Sudha.

    Book details

    AuthorDharamvir Bharati
    First published1949
    Original languageHindi
    Translated byPoonam Saxena
    GenreRomance
    TypeFiction
    Pages (approx.)280
    SettingAllahabad, 1940s

    Themes

    • Platonic versus physical love
    • Sacrifice
    • Idealism and hypocrisy
    • Duty to mentors
    • Youth

    Who should read it

    Readers who enjoy intense, bittersweet love stories and want a Hindi classic that defined a generation's idea of romance.

    If you liked this, try

    • Devdas
    • Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda
    • Pinjar

  • 2 States

    Krish Malhotra and Ananya Swaminathan meet in the mess at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and fall in love over study sessions and late-night conversations. By graduation they want to marry, but they decide to do it properly: both families must agree, which proves harder than any entrance exam.

    Krish takes a bank job in Chennai to charm Ananya's reserved, conservative parents, tutoring her brother and arranging a concert for her father's company. Ananya, in turn, faces Krish's loud Punjabi relatives and his mother's open suspicion of South Indians, while Krish deals with his strained relationship with his father.

    Partly based on Chetan Bhagat's own marriage, the novel is a light comedy about regional stereotypes, food, language and family politics in modern India. It became a 2014 Hindi film starring Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt. Short chapters, wisecracking narration and family set pieces keep it moving, making it an easy holiday read.

    Book details

    AuthorChetan Bhagat
    First published2009
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreRomance
    TypeFiction
    Pages (approx.)269
    SettingIIM Ahmedabad, Chennai and Delhi, 2000s

    Themes

    • Inter-community marriage
    • Cultural stereotypes
    • Family approval
    • Parents and children

    Who should read it

    Readers wanting a breezy romantic comedy about a north-south Indian love story.

    If you liked this, try

    • Five Point Someone
    • The 3 Mistakes of My Life
    • A Suitable Boy

  • Pride and Prejudice

    Mr and Mrs Bennet of Longbourn have five daughters and no son, which means their estate will pass to a distant cousin and the girls must marry well. When a wealthy young bachelor, Mr Bingley, rents a nearby house, Mrs Bennet sets her sights on him for her eldest daughter, the gentle Jane. Bingley's friend Mr Darcy, richer still, makes a poor first impression at a local ball by snubbing the second daughter, Elizabeth.

    Elizabeth is clever, lively and quick to judge, and her dislike of Darcy hardens when the charming officer George Wickham tells her a story about Darcy's past. Around them circle a memorable cast: the pompous clergyman Mr Collins, the imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the flighty youngest sister Lydia and the sardonic Mr Bennet.

    Austen's irony, sharp dialogue and free indirect narration make the novel feel modern more than two centuries after publication. Beneath the romance it examines class, marriage as economic necessity and the danger of trusting first impressions. It has inspired countless adaptations and retellings.

    Book details

    AuthorJane Austen
    First published1813
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreClassic
    TypeFiction
    Pages (approx.)432
    SettingHertfordshire and Derbyshire, England, early 1800s

    Themes

    • Marriage and class
    • First impressions
    • Pride
    • Family
    • Women's independence

    Who should read it

    Anyone who enjoys witty dialogue and romance, and readers looking for an accessible way into classic literature.

    If you liked this, try

    • Emma
    • Jane Eyre
    • North and South