This is a sample of the city-related books I have read this year. While I have reviewed Amita Baviskar’s Uncivity City in detail for the LSE Review of Books (link here), regarding the others, I have only been able to write about in snatches. With the exception of Shanta Gokhale’s Shivaji Nagar, however, I have recorded some observations on all of them. Here, I record some observations on these books:

All of these books were non-fiction, none of them were poetry or fiction, although I do have a line-up of these categories. Nandini Sen’s Urban Marginalisation in South Asia: Waste Pickers in Calcutta and Kaveri Gill’s Poverty and Plastic: Scavenging and Scrap Trading Entrepreneurs in India’s Urban Informal Economy are both about waste pickers. As an occupation, waste picking appears to be a largely urban phenomenon, or at least, it has been studied as such. It may exist in some form in peri-urban and rural areas. The urban space, therefore, has a crucial role to play in the infrastructure the occupation is based on. Gill’s study is about plastic waste traders; it examines the ‘recovery market’ in New Delhi. Sen’s book is more directly an examination of the urban space and its relationship with waste pickers and the marginality it produces. Baviskar’s Uncivil City, Restless and the City by Nirantar, In Public’s Interest by Gautam Bhan, and Sunil Kumar’s The Present in Delhi’s Pasts are all based in Delhi. Each of these examine different aspects of Delhi– environmental politics, youth in urban informal spaces, evictions, and history. Of course, to say Sunil Kumar’s book is about the history of Delhi is a little bit vague. To be particular, the Present in Delhi’s Pasts is a collection of essays on Delhi’s hyper-local histories; covering the Qutub Complex, Hauz Rani, Saidlajab, and Sufi shrines in Saket and Jahanpanah. First published in 2002 this collection is a reminder that narrating history is vital to the preservation of a nation’s humanity. Though I found all the essays extremely insightful, I am partial to the one titled “Naming”. It discusses the politics of re/naming, a project that began much before the Modi government was at the center. This collection is an exercise in remembering why historicising is imperative to any person who seeks to be rational and critical. After all, as the author writes, we are all historians of our own times. We, the people. At a time when history has rapidly become one of our most contested territories, these books feel like little miracles. 

Vivian Gornick and Colson Whitehead write about New York through their eyes in their respective books. They are both beautifully written, although I found the former more resonant. More formative for me as someone aspiring to write about the city myself. In Odd Woman and the City, the city isn’t an object, but an experience, a character even. The more I attempt to write about Harvey’s Rebel Cities, the less certain I feel about the conclusions I have drawn from it. Nevertheless, a provocative point to start a conversation on cities. By far the most difficult to write about, Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Walks is a touching meditation on the lost, estranged land. In The Voices of Marrakesh, Elias Canetti writes about his visit to Morocco. They are essays are written from a tourist’s point of view. They are strangers to the city. They carry a casual profundity that is very enjoyable to read. Junaid Shaikh’s Outcaste Bombay is a sprawling, ambitious study of caste and caste in twentieth century Bombay. Shanta Gokhale’s book on Shivaji Nagar is a collection of essays on the neighborhood. Rich and curious.