At this time in my life some important transitions took place. In addition to discovering that medieval history, plate tectonics, polity and constitution, civic sciences have seized to be lifeless anymore, I got bugged by good books, I was wondered, amazed and fascinated by people who could pull out lines such as,
"Once the quietness arrived, it stayed and spread in Estha. It reached out of his head and enfolded him in its swampy arms. It rocked him to the rhythm of an ancient, fetal heartbeat. Unspeakable. Numb. " (Excerpted from "The God of Small Things" )
The June, July time was the best time when I could really find some time to read good books except my study books! I used to literally lock myself in my room for the whole day and feast the books.
This exactly was the time when I heard from my friend Belu about a travelogue on the city of Delhi by William Dalrymple, I decided to grab a copy...the interest was because of two reasons,
firstly I had heard a li'l too much about the travelogues by him so I needed to have a look at his writing style. Secondly, the book was about Delhi. (At that time, my stay in Delhi was 2 years young and I had explored quite some areas there and loved every bit of it.)
On my next trip to Connaught Place, I picked the book. The book was amazingly genuine as Dalrymple has maintained neutrality in his observations.
In this book he unveils the charm of the city of Delhi or DEHLI as he puts it and takes the reader to places , even a core Dilliwala wdn't hv imagined to be existent, if at all , worth visiting !
The immense amount of hard work and devotion of Dalrymple comes to the fore as you wonder para by para about the flow, wit and honesty of the author...
There are some jaw dropping, eye popping revelations about the promiscuousness of the then Mughal Emperors. Their insanely lavish lifestyles make you sick , yet the beauty and tenderness of Mughal Architecture of Delhi freshens you. The sketches, one on the cover page and of the various sites in Delhi which adorn this book are drawn by his wife and get full 10/10.
Dalrymple makes you amaze at his insatiable curiosity, which always charms you!
Read this book for pure joy and entertainment... I'll also recommend this book to people who think visiting Delhi is tantamount to visiting Janpath and India Gate....
P.S: I have written about the same book in my another old (now defunct) homepage. The last 3 paragraphs are from my old site.
3 comments:
Good one Addy, gosh, u remember that much........invite William to read ur blog....probably, he'll part with some royalty for ur genuine observations....and appreciation...carry on with devouring good books...and keep posting....
Sheki
will try to get hold of it this time when i come home..its a tragedy but at times its really difficult to find books in nagpur. i wanted to buy shantaram, btu all the known bookstores (popular, venus etc) were out of copies & i missed on it. good read though :)
a friend who grew up in delhi and is now back there told me about this book... all she did was rave abt it ...
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