In response to a suggestion by a Good Friend; Here are my 10 favorite reads (not necessarily in any order)

1.A Great Clamour: Encounters with China and Its Neighbours- Pankaj Mishra
2. From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia – Pankaj Mishra
3. The Man in my Head : Pico Iyer
4. This Divided Island: Samanth Subramanian
5. My Friend, The Fundamentalist : Sadanand Dhume
6. The Elephant Catchers: Subroto Bagchi
7. The Professional : Subroto Bagchi
8. The New Asian Hemisphere : Prof Kishore Mahbubani
9. The Malayan Breeze : Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh
10. India Unbound : Gurcharan Das

The Authors above have shaped the way i think, hence the way i write; being a self-trained writer, a owe a virtual debt to them.