Libraries Of Leaders: On The Bookshelves Of India’s Stand-up Comedians

A couple of weeks ago, we brought you the reading lists of some of India's top women comedians. This week, it's the turn of their male counterparts.

Kanan Gill, Sahil Shah, and Kunal Rao are popular comedians who have been successful on the internet and television, besides having hosted sellout stand-up performances. Here's what they read and recommend.

Kanan Gill

Kanan Gill is a software engineer-turned-comedian, best known for the ‘'Pretentious Movie Reviews” series on YouTube. He is now set to make a debut on the silver screen, with the film Noor, opposite Sonakshi Sinha. Here are a few books which find a prominent place in his bookshelf.

1. The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things is the narrative of a dysfunctional family in Kerala, told through the eyes of fraternal twins Estha and Rahel. It is a colourful narrative with a riot of characters ranging from a Rhodes scholar and entrepreneur, a former nun, and a violent drunkard.

Gill said one must read the book to know “the things that language can do, and the things that you can do with language”.

2. Em And The Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto

A touching story of a family with a perpetually sick mother, a father who is the proverbial pillar, and two children living in a single room in Mumbai. Despite an emotionally challenging subject the book leaves one uplifted, Gill said. The vivid description of Bombay serves the perfect backdrop to the story, he added.

3. The Illicit Happiness Of Other People by Manu Joseph

The book is a humourous and poignant account of a father's quest for the reason behind his 17-year-old son's suicide. The motley characters include an ill-behaved drunk, his wife who fantasises about his death, and their two sons.

Sahil Shah

Sahil Shah is a founding member of one of India's leading stand-up comedy groups, East India Comedy. He is also a scriptwriter and columnist and has performed over 600 shows worldwide. Here's what he recommends.

1. Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams

The book is the story of an intergalactic journey undertaken by two friends, minutes before the earth is demolished to make way for a freeway. They are joined by an oddball assortment of characters and aided by the Hitchhiker's Guide.

2. Amar Chitra Katha

On of India's best-selling children comics of all times, the series ranges from history to mythology. Sahil said that the Mahabharata series was a particular favourite.

3. Thrillers by Lee Child

Shah is a huge fan of British author Jim Grant, better known as Lee Child, and the protagonist of a series of his novels, Jack Reacher. Child's works, he says, are like action movies packed within the pages of a book.

Kunal Rao

Kunal Rao is also a member of the East India Comedy and has over 300 shows to his credit. The former chartered accountant has also written humour columns for publications such as the Hindustan Times, and Mid-Day. Here's what he recommends.

1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noan Harari

The book is the story of the evolution of the humanoid – from six species to one dominant city building, warring super species, and how and why they devised everything from religion to money to books. It is thoroughly researched and relies on multiple branches of science including archaeology, paleontology, and social sciences.

2. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

The book juxtaposes IQ to EQ and talks of how having an emotional quotient is key to successful relationships and a social life. The book uses several examples to show and highlight five skills that help build a healthy EQ.

3. The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

The characters of this popular comic series are named after a French theologian and an English philosopher. It details the friendship between Calvin – the egotistical, feverishly imaginative, wised-up young boy with the vocabulary of a Yale literature major – and his stuffed tiger Hobbes. Each strip is replete with the antics that these two get up to