10 Best Biographies in India 2021 (The Man Who Knew Infinity, Elon Musk, and more)

Srinivasa Ramanujan is arguably one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. Hailing from a small southern Indian village, Ramanujan was largely self-taught when it came to Mathematics. Yet, he could pen down mathematical theorems like a magician.

This book tells a tale of Ramanujan and G.H. Hardy, who saw Ramanujan's talents and brought him to Cambridge University. He made significant contributions to the field of Mathematics. He was eventually inducted into the Royal Society of London. This book is inspiring not only because it talks about the struggles of Ramanujan but also because it gives valuable insight into Hardy's ability to see the talent of the Indian mathematician.

If not for Hardy, Ramanujan would have been unknown to the world. Most interestingly, Ramanujan attributed all his mathematical knowledge to his devi, Mahalakshmi of Namakkal. He said that his pen bleeds the devi's ideas and that is how he solves all the complex math problems. This book is not just for Math lovers as Srinivasa's story is inspiring for all.

The founder of PayPal and the innovator behind Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity is known for his wits on Twitter as much as he is known for his entrepreneurial genius. This book by Ashlee Vance covers Musk's early life, along with his later entrepreneurial pursuits.

Elon Musk's crazy yet possible idea to take humans to Mars has been one of the cornerstones of innovation in the past few years. Additionally, his SpaceX rockets have successfully privatized space exploration, which was unthinkable even a decade ago. Other than that, his electric cars, built under the brand name Tesla, are the hottest cars in the world right now.

Musk gives a feeling of a traditional man with modern ideas. Vance, in his book, describes him as a combination of inventors and industrialists like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs. This book is set to take you into a different realm of innovation and show you the power of tenacity.

M.S. Ashokan has done a tremendous job in bringing us the life of the brain behind New Delhi's metro rail project. E. Sreedharan was able to complete the project within budget and on time, despite hundreds of obstacles and constraints. The Metro Man, as he is popularly known, has interestingly never worked more than the regular 8 hours per day.

His life is even more interesting to Indians as every common, middle-class Indian can relate to this man's early life. Prior to winning accolades and gaining worldwide popularity for his Delhi project, Sreedharan built the Kolkata Metro and the Konkan Railway. Recently, the 88-year old has joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and might become the face of the party's Kerala cadre.

Ethical would be the best word to describe this gentleman, and this book does complete justice to his life's works. Karmayogi, meaning the one for whom the right action is kind of an ode to the almighty, is an appropriate title of the book.

2020 saw a lot of strange things, mainly due to the pandemic. However, it also saw some great Bollywood stars leaving for the heavenly abode. Sushant Singh Rajput, Rishi Kapoor, and Irrfan Khan are probably the biggest stars who left us during this year. Irrfan Khan was an extraordinary actor, whose eyes alone could do the acting.

He is known for his spectacular roles in movies like Haider, The Lunchbox, Paan Singh Tomar, and Hindi Medium. He has also been a part of some Hollywood films - The Amazing Spiderman, Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire, Jurassic World, Inferno, among others. It's not just his profound cinematic experience but his unique style of acting that makes him a legend.

Aseem Chhabra, in this book, brings forward an intimate account of Irrfan's life, telling us the story of this unorthodox Indian icon. From his humble beginnings in Rajasthan to having his face on Hollywood posters, Irrfan came a long way through hard work and principles. This book reflects on the man behind the silver screen and is a great ode to Irrfan Khan's career.

This book on Byju Raveendran is a story of a young mechanical engineer who started teaching part-time to fuel his passion. The part-time stint quickly made Byju a highly popular teacher. He used his skills to reach a wider range of students, and his company is now worth $8 billion.

This is a small book talking about Byju's life as a teacher, a father, a boss, and a husband. It details the small things that made him a huge success. His success can be measured by the fact that what he started as a part-time thing has now led his company to become the official shirt sponsor of the Indian cricket team.

India's most dependable batsman and probably the nicest boy on the team, Rahul Dravid has had a spectacular cricketing career. This biography by Devendra Prabhudesai has highlighted Dravid's dedication, discipline, and determination throughout his career. 

He talks about the incidents that contributed to making him one of the best batsmen of all time. This book narrates Dravid's achievements along with his trials and tribulations. He was named The Wall for his amazing ability to stay long on the pitch when the team required it the most. 

His slow playing style also brought him a lot of criticism, which he handled well and kept on delivering on the big platform. Often called a test cricket batsman, he proved his critics wrong by scoring over 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. He also played a few good seasons of T20 cricket in the IPL. All in all, he is an achiever who breaks the stereotype of nice guys finishing last.

This book on former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by Shakti Sinha, his close associate, presents the paradoxes he faced in his political career. Vajpayee's role as the prime minister was a refreshing change for the nation. 

Testing nuclear tests at Pokhran, strengthening ties with America, and initiating the Golden Quadrilateral highway are some of his works that set off the era of a new India. He was a poet at heart, and this book brings us close to how he thought and worked daily. 

You will read about his early, humble days and how he elevated himself through the ranks. From not being able to make the government due to one seat to having a majority in both lower and upper houses currently, the BJP has a lot to owe to Vajpayee's tenacity.

The Wild Truth is written by Christopher McCandless's sister. Chris, also known as Alexander Supertramp, left his comfortable life to live in the wild. His story also inspired the Oscar-nominated film, Into the Wild. Chris did not understand the norms of the society, giving his savings away to live in the wilderness of Alaska and starving to death in 1992.

Although his life ended tragically, many people take inspiration from the life of Chris, who romanticized life in his own way. His sister has given valuable insights into Chris's early life, giving us reasons behind his brave decisions in life. He shared a special bond with his sister, who has penned down a deeply personal memoir of his life.

Swami Vivekananda's life was filled with deep spiritual insight, vast knowledge of western and eastern cultures, brilliant oratory, and broad human sympathy. He took India's culture to the highest stage of the world and won appreciation from one and all. This book by Swami Nikhilananda presents the details of Vivekananda's life, including 28 photographs of his.

Vivekananda's message of Vedanta - the non-duality of the Godhead - was acknowledged internationally. He had a very humble beginning, but he still managed to reach Chicago to represent India's culture and making the West aware of the magnanimity of our Samskriti.

Dipa Karmakar's fourth-place finish at Rio Olympics 2016 gave hope to so many young athletes in India. She became the first woman gymnast from India to compete in an Olympics. Gymnastics, as a sport, is largely overlooked in India, but a feat like Dipa's has made people talk about it.

Her inspiring story, the hard work that went behind qualifying for the Olympics, and giving hope of an Olympics medal in the next Olympics to a nation of 1.3 billion people have been wonderfully assimilated in this book. She is a Khel Ratna Award winner as well, which is the highest sporting honour in India.