Great Indian Memoirs & Lives
Updated 2026-07-17 · 10 books
The best Indian memoirs are candid, opinionated and deeply personal. We've gathered the essential self-portraits, from Gandhi's famous experiments with truth to Khushwant Singh's gleefully indiscreet autobiography and Leila Seth's account of becoming a pioneering judge. Read them for the lives, and for the India each one reveals.
- 1
Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Read this if you want the foundational Indian life story: Gandhi's own account of his experiments with truth.
Biography & AutobiographyNonfictionBiography - 2
Truth, Love and a Little Malice
Khushwant Singh
Read this if you want candour and wit: Khushwant Singh's famously indiscreet autobiography, Truth, Love and a Little Malice.
BiographyAuthorsIndic - 3
Go Kiss The World Life Lessons For The Young Professional
Subroto Bagchi
Read this if you want an inspiring rise-from-the-outside story: Subroto Bagchi's Go Kiss the World.
ExecutivesBiographySuccess in business - 4
On Balance
Leila Seth
Read this if you want a trailblazing life in law: Leila Seth's On Balance, memoir of India's first woman high court chief justice.
WomenBiographyIndia - 5
Our Moon Has Blood Clots
Rahul Pandita
Read this if you want a haunting memoir of exile: Rahul Pandita's Our Moon Has Blood Clots, on leaving Kashmir.
Kashmiri PanditsEthnic conflictGenocide - 6
Love MY Amma Vasudhendra Winner
Read this if you want a tender, sharp tribute: Vasudhendra's darkly funny essays on mothers, rooted in his Kannada writing.
Non-fictionMemoir - 7
Romancing with Life
Dev Anand
Read this if you love old Bollywood: Dev Anand's exuberant autobiography, Romancing with Life.
- 8
Actually ... I Met Them
Gulzar
Read this if you want a poet's memoir: Gulzar recalls the extraordinary people he met in Actually... I Met Them.
- 9
Ignited Minds
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Read this if you want inspiration from a president: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's Ignited Minds, a memoir-manifesto for young India.
InspirationalBiographyAutobiography - 10
The Tihar Players
Mahmood Farooqui
Read this if you want an unusual firsthand account: Mahmood Farooqui's The Tihar Players, a prison memoir.
Non-FictionMemoirs
At a glance
| # | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Autobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth | Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi |
| 2 | Truth, Love and a Little Malice | Khushwant Singh |
| 3 | Go Kiss The World Life Lessons For The Young Professional | Subroto Bagchi |
| 4 | On Balance | Leila Seth |
| 5 | Our Moon Has Blood Clots | Rahul Pandita |
| 6 | Love MY Amma Vasudhendra Winner | |
| 7 | Romancing with Life | Dev Anand |
| 8 | Actually ... I Met Them | Gulzar |
| 9 | Ignited Minds | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| 10 | The Tihar Players | Mahmood Farooqui |
Frequently asked
What is the most famous Indian autobiography?
Mahatma Gandhi's An Autobiography, or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, is the most famous, tracing his moral and political development in his own words.
Which Indian memoirs are best for candour?
Khushwant Singh's Truth, Love and a Little Malice is famous for its frankness, while Rahul Pandita's Our Moon Has Blood Clots is an unsparing personal account of the Kashmiri Pandit exodus.
Prefer a plain-text version of this list? You can find one here.