For centuries, the animal kingdom has captured the Indian imagination. And the land of the
Panchatantra and the Jataka Tales continues to give rise to literary masterpieces. Some of
the greatest stories in modern Indian literature have animals as protagonists.
In Animalia Indica, Sumana Roy collects the best fiction written about animals from the past
hundred years or so. Beginning with Premchand’s classic, ‘A Tale of Two Bullocks’, and
taking in its sweep some of the greatest pieces of literary fiction to have originated in India
including ‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’ by Rudyard Kipling, ‘Mahesh’ by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay,
‘The Mark of Vishnu’ by Khushwant Singh, ‘A Horse and Two Goats’ by R. K. Narayan,
‘Poonachi’ by Perumal Murugan, ‘The Crocodile and the Monkey’ by Vikram Seth, ‘The
Reflections of a Hen in Her Last Hour’ by Paul Zacharia, ‘The Last Tiger’ by Ruskin Bond and
‘Elephant at Sea’ by Kanishk Tharoor, the stories in Animalia Indica are guaranteed to dazzle
the reader.
These stories, centred on animals, and written over the last hundred years or so, are among
the greatest feats of creation in the annals of modern Indian literature. Once read, their
flaming brilliance will ensure they are never forgotten.
A Tale of Two Bullocks by Premchand
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling
Mahesh by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
Jumman by Shripad Narayan Pendse
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
The Flood by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai
The Mark of Vishnu by Khushwant Singh
Bulbuls by Habib Kamran
A Horse and Two Goats by R. K. Narayan
The Copper-tailed Skink by Manjula Padmanabhan
The Last Tiger by Ruskin Bond
The Owlet Who Craved the Sun by Achyutananda Pati
The Crocodile and the Monkey by Vikram Seth
Labour by R. R. Borade
The Reflections of a Hen in Her Last Hour by Paul Zacharia
The Summer of the Crows by Nilanjana Roy
Poonachi by Perumal Murugan
A Tale of Animals by Moti Lal Kemmu
Elephant at Sea by Kanishk Tharoor
Snake by Sujatha
And Then Laughed the Hyena by Syed Muhammad Ashraf.