Books and Authorsपुस्तकें और लेखक

Mudrarakshasa is a classical Sanskrit political drama written by Vishakhadatta. It describes how Chanakya, through political strategy, helped Chandragupta Maurya overthrow the Nanda dynasty. Kalidasa (option A) wrote Abhijnanashakuntalam and Meghaduta, Banabhatta (option B) wrote Harshacharita and Kadambari, and Brihatratha (option D) is the name of an ancient Magadha ruler, not a playwright, so option C is correct. Option C.

My Life as a Comrade is the memoir of K.K. Shailaja, written with co-author Manju Sara Rajan, as listed by the publisher. The other options pair her with names that are not the co-author of this book. Answer: C. Option C.

The Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2025 for Urdu was awarded to Ghazanfar Iqbal for Qaumi Sitare (an article collection), as listed on Wikipedia's 2025 award page. The other three books are not the Urdu winner listed for 2025. Answer: B. Option B.

Bernardine Evaristo shared the 2019 Booker Prize with Margaret Atwood for Girl, Woman, Other and became the first Black woman to win the prize. Tayari Jones, Zadie Smith and Jesmyn Ward were not the 2019 co-winners. Answer: B. Option B.

Both novels are by Salman Rushdie (2017, 2019). Option C.

Heat and Dust is by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (it actually won the Booker in 1975; the question says 1976). Option C.

Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, a satirical novel set during Sri Lanka's civil war. Michael Ondaatje is also Sri Lankan-born and a Booker winner, but for The English Patient (1992), not this book. Romesh Gunesekera and Anuk Arudpragasam are other Sri Lankan-origin writers who did not win this prize for this novel. Answer: A. Option A.

'My Years in...' marks it as a memoir by a diplomat who served in the PMO and National Security Council, dealing with foreign/security policy. Option A.

Vikram Chandra's debut novel Red Earth and Pouring Rain (1995) won the 1996 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. Option C.

Anuradha Roy won the 2016 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter. Arundhati Roy (B) is a different author best known for The God of Small Things, and Perumal Murugan (C) and Jhumpa Lahiri (D) are also well-known South Asian writers who did not win the 2016 prize for this novel. Option A.

A Suitable Boy (1993) is an epic novel by Vikram Seth, often cited among the longest novels in English, so A is correct. The other three authors wrote different novels. Option A.

Harshacharita is a biography of King Harshavardhana written in Sanskrit by Banabhatta, his court poet. Kalidasa wrote Abhijnanashakuntalam, Dandin wrote Dashakumaracharita, and Bharata is associated with the Natyashastra. Option B.

Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh was published in 1956; Untouchable appeared in 1935, The Guide in 1958 and The Serpent and the Rope in 1960. On the stated year, B fits; the official key gives D (The Guide), which does not match "written in 1956". Official key: Option D.

It is N. Prabhakaran's acclaimed Malayalam fiction translated by Jayasree Kalathil, shortlisted for the JCB Prize 2019. Option A.

Omani writer Jokha Alharthi won the 2019 International Booker Prize for 'Celestial Bodies' (translated by Marilyn Booth), the first book written in Arabic to win. Option C.