Author Archives: Thebookreviewindia

In Delhi, the social, cultural, psychological and political universe of the large-scale labour in the informal sector have so far been researched only in nascent form. Characteristic of the migrants to Delhi, as of the labour in other cities, is a very high geographical, sectoral and professional concentration.

It is through the situated/local that several important historical interventions have been made regarding the national/general. Overarching theoretical formulations are invaluable conceptual tools that get their competence from historically and materially specific events. Women’s Studies is one of the disciplines where we see this emphasis on the situated with a political force.

On many a bright winter day, we would see an English family sipping beer or tea in their flowering garden, with a couple of spaniels or retrievers, jumping around them, playing with a tennis ball.

This is essentially a pictorial record of a pivotal moment in India’s history, but also a timely tribute to Ravi Dayal, the renowned publisher. Dayal, who married Khushwant Singh’s daughter Mala, passed away in 2006.

Edifices and monuments are built. Cities grow and evolve over time. There have, however, been exceptions. Mohammad bin Tughlak’s Daulatabad was one. The mad emperor, as some thought of him, ordered that his capital in Delhi be abandoned and the Court be established hundreds of miles south in the Deccan.

Delhi then and Now is a unique book. In two distinct parts, Narayani Gupta and Dilip Bobb have captured this ‘city in transit’ very graphically, recreating the richness of the nostalgic past juxtaposed with its vibrant presence.

Before and after Independence, India was engaged in a process of discovering itself and re-fashioning an identity for itself.

As a proud Dilliwali who loves Delhi, its monuments, history and culture, my study is filled with books on various aspects of the capital city. The latest addition on the bookshelf is the new edition of Rakshanda Jalil’s Invisible City: The Hidden Monuments of Delhi.

Between 2004 and 2008 I was involved in running an after-school creative activity centre for children. The place, called Leap Years was the brainchild of Rahul Bhandare, an enterprising young man with interest in music, the arts and much else besides his interests in power generation.

In the majestic setting of the Delhi Darbar of 1911, King George V let out on a secret project. It came as a surprise to most, if not an outright shock to all. The capital of British India was to be shifted out of Calcutta and Delhi was to resume its historical identity.

Brick by brick, Intizar Hussain finely constructs Delhi in Dilli Tha Jiska Naam, his own Dillinama. His characters are at times mythical, at others real.