Indian Personalities And Their Autobiographies

A self-written autobiography is a personal narrative of one's life. In 1797, William Taylor, writing in the English magazine The Monthly Review, mocked the term "autobiography," suggesting it as a hybrid but dismissing it as "pedantic." However, Robert Southey, in 1809, was the first to use it in the current definition. Even though it was first called in the early nineteenth century, first-person autobiographical literature has a long history. Autobiography is an investigation of life from a good movement. From the moment of production, the autobiography takes stock of the autobiographer's life. 

While biographers often draw on a range of sources and perspectives, autobiography may rely only on the author's memories. Here, in this article, we will cover the list of top 20 Indian personalities and their autobiographies and also the list of famous Indian personalities and their autobiographies name (book name)

List of Famous Indian Personalities and Their Autobiographies

Below is the list of some famous Indian autobiographies along with their writers’ names and the published year.

Top 20 Indian Personalities and Their Autobiographies

1. The Story of My Experiments with Truth - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Gujarati: Satya Na Prayogo athva Atmakatha, lit. "Experiments of Truth or Autobiography") is Mohandas K. Gandhi's autobiography, which spans his life from boyhood until 1921. From 1925 to 1929, it was written in weekly instalments and published in his journal Navjivan. It was also published in parts in his other publication, Young India, in English. His childhood, child marriage, relationship with his wife and parents, school experiences, his study tour to London, efforts to be like the English gentleman, dietetics experiments, his trip to South Africa, his experiences of colour prejudice, his quest for dharma, social work in Africa, and his slow and steady return to India are all recounted. After a description of the Congress's Nagpur session in 1915, the book abruptly ends.

2. An Autobiography - Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru wrote An Autobiography, also known as Toward Freedom (1936), while jailed between June 1934 and February 1935, before he was appointed India's first Prime Minister. The first edition of the autobiography, published in the year 1936 by John Lane, The Bodley Head Ltd, London, has been reprinted over more times and translated into over 30 different languages. Penguin Books India released the book, which contains 68 chapters and 672 pages.

3. Wings of Fire - A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Wings of Fire, the autobiography of former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, was released in 1999. Dr Abdul Kalam and Arun Tiwari worked on it. Dr Kalam analyses his early life, as well as the work, adversity, courage, luck, and chance that led him to command India's space, nuclear, and missile programmes. After graduating from MIT (Chennai), India, Kalam began his work with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, where he was tasked to develop a hovercraft prototype. Later, he joined ISRO and assisted in the establishment of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, as well as the development of the first space launch vehicle programme.

4. My Country My Life - L. K. Advani

L. K. Advani, an Indian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India from the year 2002 to the year 2004 and was the Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha, wrote an autobiography titled My Country, My Life. Abdul Kalam, India's eleventh President, published the book on March 19, 2008. The book is 1,040 pages long and contains personal narratives and incidents from Advani's life.

5. A Shot at History - Abhinav Bindra

The autobiography of Indian 2008 Summer Olympics gold winner Abhinav Bindra, A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, was published in 2011. After finishing seventh in the 2004 Athens Olympics, he won the gold medal in the 10-meter air rifle category, becoming India's first-ever solo gold medallist.

6. Waiting for a Visa - B. R. Ambedkar 

B.R. Ambedkar, an Indian lawyer, economist, politician, and social reformer authored a 20-page autobiography describing his experiences with untouchability in his handwriting between 1935 and 1936. It is now used as a textbook at Columbia University.

7. A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time - Arjun Singh and Ashok Chopra

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot began writing his autobiography, "A Grain of Sand in the Hourglass of Time," in 2011, but died on March 4, 2011, before finishing it. After that, Ashok Chopra finished the autobiography. By profession, Ashok is a publisher, author, editor, and literary columnist.

8. All from Memory - B. V. Acharya 

Justice B.V. Acharya released his autobiography 'All from Memory' in 2014, in which he remembers his childhood and student days, looking for his early life.

9. Atmakatha (Malayalam) - Anna Chandy

Anna Chandy, India's first female High Court judge, released her memoirs 'Atmakatha' in Malayalam in 1973.

10. Baburnama - Babur

Ahr-Ud-Dn Muhammad Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire and the first Mughal Emperor in the Indian Subcontinent, published 'Baburnama,' also known as 'Tuzk-e Babri' in Turki language, in the 16th century.

11. En Sarithiram - U. V. Swaminathan Iyer

U. V. Swaminathan Iyer, a Tamil scholar and researcher, wrote his autobiography 'En Sarithiram' in 1950, describing the lives and times of villages in the late nineteenth century, particularly in the Thanjavur region.

12. Ente Katha (My Story) - Kamala Surayya

Kamala Surayya, an Indian English poet, published her autobiography 'Ente Katha (My Story)' in 1973 while she was unwell and believed she wouldn't live.

13. Courage and Conviction - General Vijay Kumar Singh

In 2013, Indian General Vijay Kumar Singh published his autobiography, "Courage and Conviction," in which he accused the Indian government of corruption.

14. How I Became a Hindu - Sita Ram Goel

Sita Ram Goel, an Indian writer, publisher, and religious and political activist, published his autobiographical book 'How I Became a Hindu' in 1982. Goel "would have been murdered by a Muslim mob" during the 1946 Calcutta massacres if he didn't have a mastery of Urdu and the Western clothes he wore to avoid any "suspicion" that he was truly Hindu.

15. Jakhan Choto Chilam - Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray, a well-known director, published his autobiography 'Jakhan Choto Chilam,' which means 'In My Boyhood,' in 1982, in which he talked about his childhood in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata).

16. Living Shadows - Aribam Syam Sharma

In 2006, Indian film director and composer Aribam Syam Sharma wrote his autobiography, 'Living Shadows.'

17. Truth, Love & a Little Malice - Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh, a well-known Indian writer, journalist, and columnist who is also a qualified Barrister from Kings College, London, has the title of his autobiography is Truth, Love, and a Little Malice (released in 2002). In addition to detailing his background and direct family history, it delves into his relationships with political leaders. The title of the book was drawn from a well-known column he wrote for the Hindustan Times (which was syndicated in numerous publications) titled "With hate towards one and all."

18. The Race of My Life - Milkha Singh

The Race of My Life: An Autobiography was co-authored by Milkha Singh and her daughter Sonia Sanwalka. The famous movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is based on it.

19. Playing It My Way - Sachin Tendulkar

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography is titled Playing It My Way. On November 5, 2014, it was presented in Mumbai. Tendulkar's early years, his 24-year international career, and parts of his life that have never been revealed in public are all covered in this book. It was the best-selling adult hardback in both fiction and non-fiction categories, according to the Limca Book of Records. It surpassed Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs for becoming the most pre-ordered biographical book in India.

20. Ace Against Odds - Sania Mirza

Sania Mirza, an Indian professional tennis player, is the subject of the 2016 biography Ace Against Odds. This is her official biography, which details her rise to become one of India's and the world's best female tennis players. The book also includes some of the player's noteworthy interactions on and off the court, as well as the people and relationships that have aided her development as a person and a sportsperson.

An autobiography is a book about one's own life authored by the author. William Taylor used the term "autobiography" in the English journal "The Monthly Review" in 1797. Some of the world's most famous outstanding individuals had published their autobiographies. Every competitive test has a GK part on autobiography and the author's name.