8 Books that would take you to Mumbai: the City of Dreams
Originally published at merrative.com
Kaali Peeli, Sev Puri, Marine Drive, Bollywood et cetera, et cetera.
Yes, yes, you guessed it right. I’m talking about the city of dreams and exigent chaos, Mumbai. Still “Bombay” for some and “Mumbai” for others, it definitely takes a small 1BHK residence in your heart whether you want it or not.
It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting beside a chai tapri or in a cafe, or you’re an avid bibliophile or a lazy reader, if you reside in Mumbai, you surely shouldn't miss reading these books that share the special love for this city:
1. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
“The human face has limited space. If you fill it with laughter there will be no room for crying.”
1975. The government has declared the State of Emergency. Four strangers bump into each other in one apartment, unaware of their destinies.
A Fine Balance overviews a magnified prospect of humanity, corruption, friendship and value in a colourful unnamed city by the sea.
The New York Times reviews:
“At book’s end, I returned to ponder the title, “A Fine Balance,” because my sense of imbalance — of despair over hope, of sustained moral injury beyond reach of remedy — was keen.”
2. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
“Sometimes we love with nothing more than hope. Sometimes we cry with everything except tears.”
Set in the underworld of kaleidoscopic Bombay, Shantaram takes you to this contemporary city through the eyes of an escaped Australian convict, Lin who flees away from a high-security prison in Australia to get dissolved in the aesthetically crowded haven.
If you’ve never been to ‘Bombay’, this is your ticket to enjoy its culture, Bollywood, food, love, and life.
The New York Times reviews:
“At a time when stories have never seemed more disposable, to find a narrative that merits all that time and paper feels — in a word — gratifying. Few stand out quite like “Shantaram,” Gregory David Roberts’s 936-page novel — the first volume of a projected four based on his own life.”
3. Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta
“And at the moment of contact, they do not know if the hand that is reaching for theirs belongs to a Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Brahmin or untouchable or whether you were born in this city or arrived only this morning or whether you live in Malabar Hill or New York or Jogeshwari; whether you’re from Bombay or Mumbai or New York. All they know is that you’re trying to get to the city of gold, and that’s enough. Come on board, they say. We’ll adjust.”
Just like the inconstant metropolis, Maximum City unfolds various unexpected stories of lives in Bombay from Suketu’s point of view.
He shows how Bombay is one of a kind among other metropolitan cities in the world. If you’re a 90’s kid and want to know more about the city, apart from the vivid town Mumbai still is, this is the right book for you!
The Guardian reviews:
“Unwavering in his faithfulness to detail, Mehta follows ‘cops, gangsters, painted women, movie stars, people who give up the world’. The research that has gone into this book is phenomenal.”
4. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
“Much of what was said did not matter, and that much of what mattered could not be said.”
Slums are one of the most integral parts of Mumbai and how can it not be in a book!
Boo spotlights the stories of three families in a slum called Annawadi; Abdul, a teenage garbage shifter; a one-legged cripple; and Asha, a worker in a political party.
In the end, I promise you, you’d definitely want this book to be fiction.
The Washington Times reviews:
“Despite the fact that Ms. Boo clearly took a very hands-on, personal approach in her reporting, the book reads like a work of fiction with an omniscient narrator — the author is completely absent from the story, and nothing seems hidden from her view.”
5. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
“I learned: the first lesson of my life: nobody can face the world with his eyes open all the time.”
Not entirely set in Mumbai, but you would definitely get a tinge of taste of the Mumbai ishtyle.
Midnight’s Children takes you to the pre and post-Indian Independence era, joined by the story of Saleem Sinai, who was born at midnight of India’s Independence and was infused with some special powers you must definitely want to know.
This stunning story is an absolute masterpiece by Salman Rushdie!
The Guardian reviews:
“Even so, and in contrast to plenty of the lesser, clumsier books on this Best of Booker shortlist, Midnight’s Children is never burdened by its weight of allegory. Yes, it’s making serious points about nationhood, how easily individuals can drown under the tide of history and far too much else to enumerate here, but it all flows freely and easily from the narrative.”
6. Ravan & Eddie by Kiran Nagarkar
“They should have killed for water, the men and women of the CWD chawls. People have been known to kill for less: religion; language; the flag; the colour of a person’s skin or his caste; breaking the queue at a petrol pump.”
This is a comedic ride into the city of Mumbai along with the hilarious adventures of the two most interesting characters; Ravan, a Maratha Hindu, and Eddie, a Goan Roman Catholic.
Residing in the post-Independence period Bombay, these two not only share the different floors of the CWD Chawl No 17 but also the love that Bombay gives to its variant community.
The Indian Express reviews:
“Kiran Nagarkar is totally unpredictable, and reading his books is like taking a roller-coaster ride for the imagination… [His] use of language recognizes no barriers, and flows over, through and around the reader, engulfing him in a torrent of fantastic images… [His] lively imagination is like a force of light, touching now this problem, now that. His digressions are perhaps the best part of the book.”
7. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra by Vaseem Khan
“In a country where thieves and crooks were becoming ever more commonplace, particularly in the highest offices in the land, where people openly applauded those who managed to hoodwink millions and get away with it, Chopra was a man who stood for everything that was right and good about India.”
Inspector Ashwin Chopra, on the last day of his job, meets with two unexpected cases to be solved. The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want to be solved. And the second is a baby elephant.
A classic detective story set in the teeming city of Mumbai, Inspector Chopra would take you away with values you’d never thought you would receive.
Vaseem Khan is the very talented writer of the Inspector Chopra series. Set in modern day Mumbai, India. This series is very unique in the crime fiction genre in the UK.
8. Love and Longing in Bombay by Vikram Chandra
“So now that began to develop into a full-fledged shouting match of its own, and all in all it was soon a full-scale old-style Bombay tamasha, with people watching from every balcony and window in every building, up and down the road, laughing and giving advice and yelling at each other.”
Apart from the usual connecting railway terminals, fame for Bollywood and the underworld aspect of Mumbai, Love and Belonging in Bombay literally stays true to its title.
The book consists of five haunting stories; Dharma, Shakti, Kama, Artha, and Shanti unfolded by an elusive civil servant sitting at a smoky bar.
Publisher’s Weekly reviews:
“Impeccably controlled, intelligent, sensuous and sometimes grim, Chandra’s timeless and timely book is remarkably life-affirming, considering the dark areas of the heart he explores.”
Happy reading!
I hope you get your perfect match in the above list and enjoy reading it while having a cup of coffee on your cosy couch. ❤
