After reading, "Shantharam" liking another book was tough, it's as good as you being compelled to be good to your step mother( Which I actually went through).Buying books on the streets will introduce you to all those hot selling potboilers, getting a sensible one out of those is like searching a needle in a hay stack. But I have learned the art to such an extend that I could read a book through it's cover ( This guy is a whole load of shit, if you are thinking like that I would not complain.) Maximum city was lurking somewhere at the background, with Shantharam feeding me with too much of mumbai, the break between the two books was healthy.
Suketa Mehta, brings out a no nonsense picture of Bombay, though it's not a fiction, Mumbais's facts are truely stranger that any fiction written till date. The narration about the riots and Shiv Sena, tells you the story of hatred and communal violence, moreover it talks about the fights a youth will take from the Slum to move ahead in life. Murder as cheap as 50 rupees, Dinners as costly as lakhs will bringout the irony of this infamous city, the City of Sin. The author succeeds in depicting the city as the city of poor, were they Queue up for toilets, a city were privacy is realy expensive, he portrays it as a city of dreams and dreamers ( Slum--> Chawl ---> One BHK ---> Two BHK in South Mumbai --> Green Card). Lives at different levels and the way they talk to the city, the way the city interacts with them, are depicted through out the book and one could see the city taking shapes and sizes.A democracy were the poor votes and the topics of campaining include toilets and food, is an eye opener for any software phunk who thinks that the country has moved ahead. The depiction of eight people living in a single room ( Mom, pop, brother, sister, granny)and the way they sync in giving each other the required privacy is just startling, adjustment has new levels here, sacrifice would be a better word.
Life in a slum has it's own advantages, the love,care and affection, the oneness among the people are simply startling. The book has been thouroughly researched and the hard work shows in every line that's written. It smells of Sweat, shit, the damp mumbai air, the book might choke you up and you will feel the city in your veins, hats off to the author and the co-workers, this is a must read. The problems in the city cannot be fixed by the criminals who are designated govt agents, we need corporate leaders, strategists and visionaries who could think out of cast, creed and sex.I hope some of our educated politicians read this, some of the corporate phunks read this, might be we can apply strategy and six sigma to fix complex issues like waste disposal / traffic and housing in a city like Mumbai. Writing a book might not be tough, but to write a book which touches lives, talks about facts and still makes you read it with passion is tough, cause truth seldom sells, and truth about mumbai people will runaway, as we do always!!!!!!.
