Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

Book Description

A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us an insider’s view of this stunning metropolis. He approaches the city from unexpected angles, taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs; following the life of a bar dancer raised amid poverty and abuse; opening the door into the inner sanctums of Bollywood; and delving into the stories of the countless villagers who come in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks.

Customer Reviews:

Splendid! A must read!!.......2007-07-12

If you enjoy non-fiction books that follow people's lives with intricate detail, you will probably enjoy this book.

Suketu Mehta is a Bombayite who moves to New York in his teens. He decides after he is married and has young children to move back to Bombay, India. First he talks about the lifestyle and adjustments he makes into his Bombay life. Then Mehta goes into the detail and life of various people he meets: bar dancers, religion fanatic rioters, gangsters, movie producers, and NGO (non governmental organization) member and police officers. He is actually able to talk on the phone to a notorious "Don" - Chota Shakeel This book is so well written with precise detail.

Everyone is somehow connected to the corrupt system. When he was talking about methods of torture used in Indian prisons to extract confessions, I was wincing. Here is a preview - a male's private part was cut and chilies were rubbed on it - yikes!!

Then he contrasts the people who live in the edge - bar dancers, gansters, etc to people who take diksha. Diksha means (as according to this book) giving up all material possessions and your life to attain Moksha. It is an amazing contrast. As I started reading this book, I could not put it down. I have been to India many times and I felt the book was accurate, well written and unbiased. Mehta never gets emotional about his State - Gujarat, or about his religion, which is apparently Hinduism according to his name.

Maximum City by Suketu Mehta and Princess by Jean Sassoon are my favorite non-fiction books. If you like this book, I would also recommend Princess, which is about a female in the Saudi Arabian royal family.

Suketu Mehta.......2007-07-12

The book was in excellent condition and the book is a must read for folks interested in knowing more about cities in India and Asia

Puliter Prize finalist with more f bombs than a cop movie.......2007-07-05

I love, love, love this book. I've never been to Mumbai, but Mehta's extensive description of the people he meets and they way they speak and act makes me feel as I've spent a couple years there as well. He's at his best when he 's talking with his subjects, the self-introspection bits drag a little. This is an extremely compelling book whose 400 or so pages still seem too few.

A great take on a vibrant city.......2007-06-09

Sure Bombay is crowded, dirty, polluted, everything that a third world megalopis is but its also a city like no other and Maximum City really gets to the heart of that. Bombay is a mix of Hollywood, and Lagos. Its the center of the Indian Subcontinent.

The fact that that book is a personal journey and that that it tells the story of the city today (rather than a history of the city) makes it very readable, and wildly interesting. Some parts of it are a bit winded but all in all, a fun book to read and extremely well written.

If you liked this book, you may also want to check out 'Midnight in Sicily'

A great civics course on Bombay polity.......2007-06-04

This has helped me to decide whether I could handle living in Bombay (I've decided it would be a nicer place to visit than to live there).

A really amazing study of the misdevelopment of one of the world's greatest Sprawls, this book could be a college textbook on urban development. It is daunting sometimes to realize how completely unplanned many of the world's newest cities are.

Average customer rating:

A masterpiece of, and on, storytelling
Impressionism in prose
Fancy Frosting, Not Much Cake
interesting charachters
Deserving of the acclaim, maybe more?

Love and Longing in Bombay: Stories
Vikram Chandra
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316136778

Amazon.com

Welcome to the Fisherman's Rest, a little bar off the Sasoon Dock in Bombay where Mr. Subramaniam spins his tales for a select audience. This is the setting for Vikram Chandra's collection of seven short stories, Love and Longing in Bombay, and Subramaniam is Chandra's Scheherezade. In these stories, Chandra has covered the gamut of genres: there is a ghost story, a love story, a murder mystery, and a crime story, each tale joined to the others by the voice of the elusive narrator. In "Shakti," a discussion about real estate leads to the story of a soldier who must exorcise a ghostly child from his family home. In the final story, "Shanti," a young woman's despair about the state of the country becomes a springboard for a tale of love and hope.

Love and Longing in Bombay is a mesmerizing collection, filled with fully rounded characters and stories that resonate long after the book is back on the shelf. Chandra's prose is luminous, his tales satisfying. Scheherezade would be impressed.

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

A masterpiece of, and on, storytelling.......2007-06-06

I came to this book by way of its beautiful first story, 'Dharma', which I encountered in an amazing collection entitled "The Art of Fiction". I was keen to follow up on this story's companion pieces and I wasn't disappointed. This is a tremendously accomplished work. Five luxuriously paced stories are linked by a clever framing device involving the first-person narrator, Ranjit, and his story-telling acquaintance, Subramaniam. Importantly, Chandra's literary device never distances his characters or undermines the believability of his stories. His people and plots are fully developed and could easily stand alone. Yet together they add up to something more. First and foremost they add up to Bombay: a compelling and intriguing place, it emerges vibrantly as a city shot through with violence, riven with distinctions of religion, ethnicity and class, and haunted by love and desire. In its teeming history, secrecy, abundance and menace, the city becomes an image of the endlessly astonishing possibilities of human encounter. It's a virtuoso performance, in which Chandra shows himself to be both a master storyteller and a master stylist. In addition to a vast imagination and strong lyric gifts, he has the discipline necessary to bring his stories to stark fruition. What we find at the end is beauty and compassion. For despite an undertow of loneliness and mortality, human moments of epiphany make these stories journeys towards freedom and peace. The telling and hearing of tales, Chandra insists, can heal and exorcize. It's worth noting that the titles - Dharma, Shakti, Kama, Artha, Shanti - remain untranslated. As one critic observed, Chandra belongs to a confident generation of Indian writers in English who feel little compulsion to gloss. On the evidence of these absorbing stories, that confidence seems more than justified. Readers entranced by the noirish third story, Kama, will be pleased to know that Inspector Sartaj Singh reappears in Chandra's newly released novel, "Sacred Games".

Impressionism in prose.......2007-05-30

The eerieness and macabre of Dharma and Shanti (first and last stories in the book) are reminiscent of Saki, the great Hector Hugh Munro. The personality of the protagonist & narrator and how it reveals itself in the end are reminiscent of Yann Martel's classic Life of Pi. The subtle connection between all short stories and yet their aloofness from the theme are reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. However, well before this review sounds like a ploy to put Vikram Chandra amongst the greats and this work amongst classics, I must resign that his casual and careless writing style sets it apart from any other. Who says you have to be out of the box to think out of the box. For someone who has formal training in creative writing and teaches it as a professor, Vikram Chandra's style is surprisingly original and open-ended.

I did not have any prior expectation from the book and my initial reaction to the book was indifferent-to-negative. The grammar seems to be filled with convolution and localized incorrectness. The selective filtering of important detail is frustrating when it misleads you far beyond any point of easy return. However, the writing style turns out to be quite clever when you start paying close attention and that can be hard when you are reading page after page of prose.

The book never obviates this thesis, but Vikram Chandra breaks out the social life of the city into five characteristic components: Dharma (religion), Shakti (power), Kama (sex), Artha (money), Shanti (peace). The stories do not seem to have any direct connection with Bombay, yet they reveal the essence of life in Bombay. It is neither Chandra's methodical construction of dots that connect to give a bigger picture, nor a work of genius broken into jigsaw pieces that all fit together in one coherent truth. Instead the artistry of this book is in its impressionism. The reason why the whole adds up to be more than the sum of its parts is that the parts are beautifully suspended in Bombay's society, painted with the views of a keen observer. It is yours to love, or not.

Fancy Frosting, Not Much Cake.......2007-04-27

The language is flashy and original, but the old-fashioned skills are lacking: the author does not create fully engaging characters, and the plots are weak. Nor, oddly, does he convey the feeling and atmosphere of Bombay. The female characters, especially, are cardboard cutouts -- the lady in the long sex scene is almost a soft-core parody.

interesting charachters.......2007-03-15

When i was reading this book, I was thinkng about "our town", where the narrator gives us a glimpse into several interesting lives. i have never lived or spent much time in bombay. that being said, i am not quite sure that bombay deserve star billing in the title or connectiveness to these stories. each story (except the first) has compelling charachters that you feel interested in and want to know more about. by the way, in the last story is subramaniam shiv?

Deserving of the acclaim, maybe more?.......2006-01-03

Many of the other reviews seem to concentrate on the fact that these stories take place in Bombay...and now that I think about it, I see why...

However while reading Love and Longing in Bombay, the city itself didn't strike as particularly important...as one reviewer notes, this could've been any city in the world.

What I liked best about the title were the characters themselves, stunningly unique...you'd be hard pressed to assign them any sort of archetype.

Also, Chandra's writing makes this book worth reading, verbose but it all seems so necessary in context...I love this stuff. Can't wait for his next piece.

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Touching, thought provoking book about Bombay
Living on the Edge

Children of Bombay
Dario Mitidieri , Firdaus Kanga , and Peter Dalgish
Manufacturer: Dewi Lewis Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1899235000

Book Description

Some 30,000 children are homeless in Bombay; living on its streets, under bridges, in railway stations, anywhere they can to escape harrassment by both police and criminals. Considered a nuisance and with no rights, they are at best ignored by the majority of people. Sexual exploitation, drug addiction and criminal gangs make this a cruelly hazardous background for these young people.

Customer Reviews:

Touching, thought provoking book about Bombay.......2004-01-19

Captures the harsh life on Bombay streets that most of us deny
the existence of.

The following hindi movies "Salaam Bombay" and "Chandni Bar"
on same theme are worth watching.

Living on the Edge.......2003-10-16

The children of Bombay who live on it's streets will strike a note deep to your heart if you open it to the pain and joy of their daily LIFE.

Average customer rating:

couldn't get into it
Amazing Author - Great Story
Parsi Intolerance
One visit to an Indian restaurant
Skillful use of words

Bombay Time: A Novel
Thrity Umrigar
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312286236

Book Description

At the wedding of a young man from a middle-class apartment building in Bombay, the men and women of this unique community gather together and look back on their youthful, idealistic selves and consider the changes the years have wrought. The lives of the Parsi men and women who grew up together in Wadi Baug are revealed in all their complicated humanity: Adi Patel's disintegration into alcoholism; Dosamai gossiping tongue; and Soli Contractor's betrayal and heartbreak. And observing it all is Rusi Bilimoria, a disillusioned businessman who struggles to make sense of his life and hold together a fraying community.AUTHORBIO: Thrity Umrigar grew up in Bombay, India. A ricipient of the prestigious Neiman Fellowship at Harvard, she writes for the Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, and she is a contributor to the Boston Globe where she contributes to the Sunday magazine. She lives in Kent, Ohio.

Customer Reviews:

couldn't get into it.......2007-08-06

I was really eager to get this book given the reviews. But, I had a hard time getting into it. There are lots of descriptions...but I like getting right into people 's lives, from the first person's point of view, not from a distance. This book looks at multiple character's viewpoints from some distance, and that didn't work for me. It's a personal choice.

Also the very first story didn't draw me in. It was about a couple, where the wife is always late, causing the husband a lot of anxiety and embarassment, especially when she publicly accuses him of being the cause of tardiness. Then she would unload her arguments to her neighbor-friend, who wouldn't even try to help her reconcile with her husband, because their reconciliation will decrease the frequency of the wife's 'vent' visits, and make the old neighbor even more lonely.

I find it difficult to keep reading when I become irritated with the characters, without any hero or heroine in sight. But, others gave high ratings to this book, so perhaps, I'm being impatient and the patient folks will get the reward as they keep reading?

Amazing Author - Great Story.......2007-08-06

I highly recommend this book and The Space Between Us. Thrity Umrigar is an outstanding author - her characters and their lives come to life before you. You can not put her books down. I felt like I knew every single character personally by the end of her books. I can honestly say, I did not want her books to end. I look forward to reading anything she writes. Do not pass this author up!

Parsi Intolerance.......2007-06-27

Thrity Umrigar is great. Having read her three books I get a good image of Parsi life in Bombay.

Like many Indians, I take pride in saying that India sheltered many religions over centuries. I was disappointed that it becomes obvious from Umrigar's books that the Parsis have no appreciation of that. Non-Parsis even had to tolerate finding human body parts in their front doors and yards, vultures having dropped them there after having their fill, thanks to the Parsi custom of allowing dead bodies to be eaten by vultures. I know how upsetting it is to pious Hindus.

It only goes to show minorities can never be totally happy in any country, even the most liberal. Keeping one's culture may make an interesting reading, but integration and assimilation brings happiness.

One visit to an Indian restaurant .......2007-03-17

with my Indiaphile boss, and I have become hooked on the food. Having become hooked on the food, I was interested in the culture as well. I read this book after reading The Space Between Us, which was haunting.

This book was wonderful as well, with a really good twist at the end. The different storylines flow together seamlessly, although I am going to read it again so that by the time I hit each story, I'll already know the backstory to the person I'm reading about.

This book was captivating all the way through, and very descriptive of the culture. I look forward to more from this very talented author. I highly recommend this book.

Skillful use of words.......2004-11-21

This book was good all around. A very light and easy read.

1. It shows us that people seem to like to be miserable wherever they are and at whatever time we choose to observe them. It doesn't seem to depend on anything.

2. The length was neither too long nor too short. Some books just drag on and on and on. In addition to the strong characterizations, the author gave us an idea of the magnitude of poverty in India and the destructive nature of the caste system that people don't seem to want to emerge from no matter how many centuries pass.

3. The characters were very well developed and believable. Again, just enough detail was used-- but not too much. And many of these characters are something that we might imagine having seen in real life.

Average customer rating:

Excellent exploration of the Indian psyche
Vivid but confusing
A God Lies Dying on the Steps?
A thoroughly delightful book
Interesting debut

The Death of Vishnu: A Novel
Manil Suri
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 006000438X
Release Date: 2002-01-08

Amazon.com

The title of Manil Suri's first novel gets right to the point. His protagonist, having purchased the right to sleep on the ground-floor landing of a Bombay apartment house, slips slowly from a coma into death. As this aging alcoholic takes leave of the earth, his neighbors surround him, arguing over who gave Vishnu a few dried chapatis, who called the doctor for him, and who will pay for the ambulance to cart him away. Meanwhile, the hero of The Death of Vishnu is lost in memories. Drifting through increasingly vivid scenes from his past, he recalls his relatively rare snatches of love and joy--and especially his romance with Padmini, a self-involved prostitute. On one particular day, it seems, he stole one of his employer's cars and drove his love interest to the honeymoon town of Lonavala, where he showered her with gifts and finally lifted her veil to kiss her like a bride:

Then the absurdity of the situation strikes him. The preposterousness of his images, the foolishness of his feelings, the comicality of chasing currents that skim across Padmini's face. He thinks how absurd this whole trip has been, how absurd is the presence of the two of them in Lonavala, how absurd is the scenery itself that stretches before them. He thinks of poor, ridiculous Mr. Jalal, waiting back in Bombay for his Fiat, and of how Padmini will react when he asks her to buy them petrol so they can get back.

Vishnu also recalls his secret passion for Kavita Asrani, the beautiful teenage daughter of one of the families for whom he works. Given the protagonist's focus on his hapless love life, the scope of Suri's dazzling debut may appear narrow. However, the apartment house upon whose floor Vishnu spends his final hours functions as a microcosm of Indian society. It helps to know even a smattering about Hindu mythology or India's religious conflicts. But even if you don't, there is plenty to relish in The Death of Vishnu, with its comical, richly drawn characters, loving attention to the details of everyday life, and provocative exploration of destiny and free will. --Regina Marler

Book Description

Vishnu, the odd-job man in a Bombay apartment block, lies dying on the staircase landing: Around him the lives of the apartment dwellers unfold: the warring housewives on the first floor, lovesick teenagers on the second, and the widower, alone and quietly grieving on the top floor of the building. In a fevered state Vishnu looks back on his love affair with the seductive Padmim and wonders if he might actually be the god Vishnu, guardian of the entire universe.

Blending incisive comedy with Hindu mythology and a dash of Bollywood sparkle, The Death of Vishnu is an intimate and compelling view of an unforgettable world.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent exploration of the Indian psyche.......2007-09-16

This book is able to make the reader understand Indian culture and the lives of middle-class Indians much better than a textbook or documentary. I place Suri's book up with Rohinton Mistry's "A Fine Balance" as quintessential Indian novels.

Suri, through his characters, explores the many facets of Indian culture. Through Vishnu, the reader sees how the poor live hard lives, yet have brief rewarding moments. Through Mrs. Asrani and Mrs. Pathak, the motivations and social pressures faced by Indian women are examined. Through Mr. Jalal, the consequences of a purely intellectual life and the struggle to find religion are put out in full, disturbing display. Through Kavita and Salim's romance, the hardships faced by lovers from different religions and backgrounds are shown, as well as the hardships in balancing new ideas with old traditions. All of these issues are deftly explored. Suri does not editorialize or preach. He presents his story in a straightforward way, and allows the reader to make his own judgments.

The storytelling is crisp and well-paced. Suri, a mathematician, employs precision in moving the story between the many different story lines at just the right time. Each subplot could have been an extremely interesting novella by itself, but in Suri's hands, they all interweave to create a mesmerizing whole. All of the main characters are explored and fleshed out. These characters are what make the book such a joy to read.

Suri is one of the bright new authors on the Indian literary scene. I eagerly await his next book.

Vivid but confusing.......2007-08-06

The strength of this novel is also its weakness. Manil Suri makes no attempt to write down to Western readers as he plunges us into the tragicomic sitcom of quarreling families in this Indian apartment building. Foreign terms are thrown around without the usual clumsy attempts at translation. Characters come and go with sometimes bewildering rapidity -- Hindus, Moslems, and agnostics; vociferous or silently suffering; in love, in grief, or in anger -- all are etched with a sharp pen that skewers hypocrisies with wicked glee, but can occasionally sketch the outlines of more genuine growth and feeling. The result is something that feels entirely authentic, and is absorbing from moment to moment. But it is also a difficult book to follow, especially because the main connecting thread -- the story of Vishnu, the unofficial janitor who lies dying on the stairs -- is told through myths and memories, and contributes little to the forward momentum of the realistic portrayal of life around him.

A God Lies Dying on the Steps?.......2007-07-20

Manil Suri's debut novel 'The Death of Vishnu' was inspired by a real man named Vishnu who lived and died on the steps in the apartment building in Bombay where Suri grew up. That's correct, my dear fellow Western reader 'lived and died on the steps'. Even the mildly attentive reader will immediately grasp that 'The Death of Vishnu' is not a standard piece of Western literature.

The book centers around Vishnu as he lies dying on these steps where he has lived for years occasionally serving the needs of the apartment dwellers, who offer him weak tea and stale food in return. Vishnu, of course, is also the name of a major god in Hinduism and Indian mythology, the preserver of the Universe. Vishnu begins to dream while his life force ebbs. Another apartment dweller on his own almost inadvertent search for religious insight suggests that this often-drunk and dying Vishnu really is the Lord 'Vishnu'.

'The Death of Vishnu' is peopled with an array of interesting characters who live in or work near the building like the Asranis, Pathaks, and the Muslim Jalals, as well the cigarettewalla and the paanwalla, Short Ganga, and Tall Ganga (the book has a handy glossary). Suri explores the tribulations of living in arranged or negotiated marriages (and also the act of arranging and negotiating of these marriages), the search for religious enlightenment, religious conflict, middle-class social pretensions (all the fiercer for being so pedestrian), and more. There is a lot going on in 'The Death of Vishnu' and Suri intended this busy-ness to reflect the reality of life in Bombay (as he calls it).

'The Death of Vishnu' is the first of a trilogy with each book bearing the name of a major Hindu god. The second book The Age of Shiva: A Novel is due out in early 2008. For the Western reader like this reviewer, 'The Death of Vishnu' at times presents challenges of interpretation - is Mr. Jalal's semi-accidental search for enlightenment supposed to be comic or not? India is a very strange place to Westerners, but Suri deftly brings it closer without greatly Westernizing the story.

Highly recommended.

A thoroughly delightful book.......2007-01-15

When is this fine author going to come out with a second novel? "Death of Vishnu" was an absolutely delightful read. I'll snap up Suri's next one if he ever gets around to putting one out.

Interesting debut.......2006-07-06

In Manil Suri's debut novel, one enters a surrealist world on the brink of magical realism. The reader can't tell what is "real" and what isn't, but the result is the same. The reader is taken on a journey into an alien, yet familiar, culture; it is alien in the sense that one is unsure how to proceed, but familiar because these are people and characters just like any other. They all have their foibles. In this novel, though, it would seem that the characters have more foibles than strengths, and it is amusing to watch their lives unfold.

I appreciated learning about Indian culture from the point of view of an expatriate. I can understand why the characters acted the way they did, although in the end it would seem that they should have taken their actions all the way to their logical conclusion. The plot is interesting, if confusing a little. I had to reread the first few chapters just to get everyone's name straight, but that could have been my fault. Overall, this book belongs in the canon of modern American literature, if there is such a canon.

This was my first foray into, what I would call, Indian-American literature, and I look forward to reading more by this author (if he ever writes any), and reading more South Asian and Indian-American literature.

Important Bird Areas in India: Priority Sites for Conservation

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Important Bird Areas in India: Priority Sites for Conservation
M. Zafar-ul Islam , and Asad R. Rahmani
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This book is the result of five years' exhaustive work by the BNHS. The data, which form the core of the book, have been collected by more than 1,000 people: many hundreds of professiona and amateur ornithologists, birdwatchers, conservationists, forest officials, and others interested in
birds.

It is the most detailed publication ever produced on the subject of birds or conservation and it uncovers, analyzes and assesses all of the evidence, presenting it together with all the sources. The study has given a detailed analysis of sites that have been identified for bird conservation in India
on the basis of globally accepted criteria. Each bird area is introduced with maps, analysis, avifauna section with tables of threatened species present, and a brief description of threatened birds, which have important habitats in the relevant states.

The study shows that out of 465 important birds in India, 191 wildlife sanctuaries have been idenfitied as IBAs, 52 are national parks, 23 are tiger reserves, while 198 are not officially protected.

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Bombay in black and white
When Mumbai was Bombay
A Lyric Mediation on Vanishing Bombay

Betsy Karel: Bombay Jadoo
Suketu Mehta
Manufacturer: Steidl
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Inspired by contemporary Indian authors, Betsy Karel went to Bombay seeking visual equivalents for the humanity, humor, mystery and psychological energy of their stories. Unlike many photographers drawn to the cacophony of urban India, she focuses, often in an intensely personal way, on individuals going about their everyday street lives. She waits patiently in the bustle of Bombay, then as individuals transform public spaces into private places, forging islands of intimacy, she captures a poignant lyricism in the familiar, and the true jadoo (magic) of the city. Karel, born in New York City in 1946, was an award-winning photojournalist in the 1970s and early 80s, then returned to photography in the late 1990s. Here she collaborates with acclaimed writer Suketu Mehta, who has written a companion piece about his boyhood in Bombay.

Customer Reviews:

Bombay in black and white.......2007-10-04

The cover of this book is saturated with vivid color - then you open it to find a collection of stunning black and white photographs. One is so used to the idea of India in glorious technicolor that it comes as a bit of shock at first, but the reader can't fail to be engaged and drawn into these images of Bombay/Mumbai and its inhabitants. The text by Ardashir Vakil and Suketu Mehta provides the perfect backdrop to the images. Karel has demonstrated that it is possible to find the essence of urban India in black and white.

When Mumbai was Bombay.......2007-10-02

Betsy Karel's photographs of Bombay should dispel all arguments about the place of photography in the art world. This book achieves what few mediums can; it captures the spirit of a people in a place and in a time. That time is the India of the 1970's, when Mumbai was Bombay.

The memory palimpsests evoke those Indian writers who have captivated the world with their colorful descriptions of street scenes, foods, smells, and the colorful portrayal of the Indian people who convey humanity with hope. Bombay Jadoo is an art book of black and white photographs which captures history and, like Proust's Madeleine, the photo's linger and evoke the memory not just of India past but of nostalgia present.

A Lyric Mediation on Vanishing Bombay.......2007-08-21

Betsy Karel photographs the old Bombay before it morphs into the new Mumbai. She captures solitude in the crowd. Her world has amusement parks and funeral incense, fishing boats, animals and spirits, the sacred and everyday, lovers at the beach and old men on park benches. The photographs themselves are black and white gems.
Anyone who loves India should buy this book IMMEDIATELY.

Warriors in Politics: Hindu Nationalism, Violence, and the Shiv Sena in India

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Warriors in Politics: Hindu Nationalism, Violence, and the Shiv Sena in India
Sikata Banerjee
Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813336996

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In theorizing about the link between violence and the politics of nationalism, most scholars have rejected the idea that primordial hatred between different ethnic and/or religious groups residing in close proximity will inevitably lead to conflict and the call for a ethnically/religiously pure nation-state. Rather, conflict tends to occur when humans manipulate social, political, economic, and ideological factors to construct nationalist identities and movements. The "manipulation" perspective is the underlying theoretical framework of Warriors in Politics which uses the Mumbai riots of December 1992 and January 1993 to analyze the brand of nationalism created and disseminated by the Indian political party Shiv Sena. While the theoretical and empirical research of others is an important part of this study, interviews conducted by the author when she lived in Mumbai during this tumultuous period as well as her own theorizing on the links among masculinity, militarism, and nationalism, provide an excellent analysis of the factors-economic, political, and ideological--that converge to transform the simmering discontent of the politics of nationalism into violent conflict.

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Nice illustrations, but factually incorrect
Wonderfully written, colorfully illustrated
Wonderful!!
Call it the adventurous road to Mumbai
a lot of fun

The Road to Mumbai
Ruth Jeyaveeran
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0618434194

Book Description

Along the road to Mumbai, Shoba and her monkey, Fuzzy Patel, make many new friendsmysterious monks, a curious camel, and a snake with a sensitive stomach, just to name a few. Shoba and Fuzzy are on their way to a top-secret monkey wedding. But you shouldn't expect an invitation. According to Fuzzy, it will be the most boring wedding in the history of the universe. But magical things can happen on the road to Mumbaiand when trouble threatens to ruin the big event, unexpected friends come to the rescue. In vivid paintings filled with color and light (and more than one uninvited guest!), Ruth Jeyaveeran brings the beauty and excitement of India alive for children everywhere to enjoy.

Customer Reviews:

Nice illustrations, but factually incorrect.......2006-01-18

The author needs to fact check before publishing. Gujarati is not the major language of the people who live in Mumbai. It is Marathi.

This carelessness mars the otherwise nice illustrations in this book.

Wonderfully written, colorfully illustrated.......2005-08-24

The Road to Mumbai is a wonderfully written, colorfully illustrated children's book, which adults can enjoy too.

It is a cute and humorous tale of a little girl named Shoba and her monkey, Fuzzy Patel (insert smiles here) and their journey to Mumbai, via her bed and various other modes of transportation along the way. The story and pictures capture the essence of the people and animals they meet on the road to Fuzzy's cousin's wedding.

Ms. Jeyaveeran has accomplished much in her first book. I look forward to her next one.

Wonderful!!.......2005-03-12

This is a delightful little romp for the younger than Harry Potter set, but it will also cheer grown-ups seeking refuge from the white-bread po-faced world.

It's wonderful when story-telling ability and drawing ability are present in the same author; Jeyaveeran has spades of talent.

Libraries and parents (and probably a few Wall Street investors in need of lightening up) should buy this book, and Ruth Jeyaveeran should get to work on a sequel!

Call it the adventurous road to Mumbai.......2005-02-08

Little Shoba is on her way to a wedding in Mumbai but will she ever get there? With her pet monkey Fuzzy Patel, she sets out on her journey and discovers one interesting thing after another. A camel ride, a line of elephants, an over-crowded bus, laddos, jalebees will all help bring India to little book lovers. The illustrations are very colorful and add to the overall effect of the book.

a lot of fun.......2004-11-22

My sister gave my 4 year old (and 9 mos old) this book. My 4 year old loves it and we have talked about the book alot. I like the illustrations as well. Recommended.

Bombay Art Deco Architecture: A Visual Journey: 1930-1953

Average customer rating:

Faded Eastern promise
A Beautiful Visual Journey of Art Deco in Bombay and Miami Beach
Simply superb

Bombay Art Deco Architecture: A Visual Journey: 1930-1953
Navin Ramani
Manufacturer: Roli Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Modern | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 8174364471

Book Description

Bombay Art Deco presents a treasury of Art Deco buildings comprising residential, commercial and civic architecture created during the glamorous and optimistic era of the mid 1930's and 1940's. The architects, a small list of first generation Indian architects and builders, were mostly educated in English schools and trained in western architectural traditions, if not actually in the West. Impatient with the British reluctance to shed the Gothic and Indo - Saracenic architectural styles that had dominated Imperial Bombay's urban landscape, these visionaries were determined to imbue the city with a new modern style. That style shares its provenance with the Art Deco architecture of Miami Beach, termed Tropical Deco by author Laura Cerwinske in her seminal 1981 book. Built in the same era, the Art Deco architecture of the two cities exhibits similar scale, geometry, tropical vocabulary, and love of romance.

Customer Reviews:

Faded Eastern promise.......2007-08-01

Who would have thought that Bombay would have the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings outside of Miami Beach. There is a photo on pages 272-273 of Marine Drive, Bombay and you could be forgiven for thinking, at a quick glance, that this might be Ocean Drive, Miami. Navin Ramani reveals the background to this remarkable architectural heritage in the front of his book: the opening of the Suez Canal, a merchant class settling in Bombay, the city becomes the center of the Indian architectural profession and extensive land reclamation from 1929 all helped to create a unique Far Eastern Deco habitat.

The book's many photos show plenty of apartments and commercial buildings with their concrete curved lines, geometric floor patterns and streamlined appearance. It's unfortunate though that the photos also show plenty pipe-work and aircon units spoiling the external look of so many of them. It is the movie palaces that really show off the Deco style. The interiors of the five featured bubble over with streamline curves, recessed lighting and flamboyant marble floor patterns.

Ramani's book will surely be the definitive one about Bombay deco but I was rather disappointed with many of the author's photos. They lack a sharpness and the color is rather muted and dull. I became aware of this when I compared them with Arnold Schwartzman's clean, focused photos of Deco LAndmarks: Art Deco Gems of Los Angeles and in fact there is a good example of the photographic difference in Ramani's book on pages 256-257, on the left is a dull, flat photo of 63 Marine Drive, Bombay and the right a similar looking Hotel Victor in Miami but the photo is sharp, clean and colorful. Still, despite this Bombay Art Deco is certainly worth having if you love this exuberant architecture.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

A Beautiful Visual Journey of Art Deco in Bombay and Miami Beach.......2007-07-16

Bombay Art Deco is a beautiful book in many ways. The colorful photos of the Art Deco buildings complement the well-written prose. Navin Ramani is the perfect person to write such a book. He grew up in a Bombay Art Deco building as a child and now lives in South Florida and has immersed himself Miami Beach Art Deco. He truly loves and respects the architecture and is an advocate for its preservation. He takes beautiful photos, too.

As a Miami Beach Art Deco guide myself, I loved the chapter on BoMi(BOmbay-MIami Beach), A Tale of Two subtropical Deco Cities. The chapter compares the similar climate, seaside geography, optimism and Hollywood ties of Bombay and Miami Beach. On one page is a Miami Beach landmark and on the facing page is a comparable Bombay landmark. The similarities are truly amazing and one could easily be interchanged with the other. For example, the Indian Merchants Chamber (1935-40) is juxtaposed to what is now Jerry's Famous Deli (1940). The caption is "Curves folding in on curves."

I recommend this book to anyone who likes Art Deco. AFter reading this book, you will want to travel to Bombay to see these buildings for yourself.

Simply superb .......2007-03-14

For anyone in love with Mumbai or with Art Deco architecture, this book is an absolute must. Lovingly photographed and produced, you get to see everything from the Asiatic Library and the Cricket Club to the lovely cinemas Liberty, Eros, and Regal. A must for any armchair traveller and Mumbai lover, as well as required reading for architecture buffs.

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