The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their
Delhi 101, by Ajay Jain, as the title says, is all about “101 Surprising ways of discovering Delhi”.
Much as I love to read travel books, I don’t really read guides except when I am actually travelling to that place (and even then, I only glance into them to plan out my trip), and the only reason I agreed to review the book was that it was based on Delhi, a city I once thought I knew well, only to realize as I grew that I knew too little about.
I have a tenuous connection with the city, forged by my birth there, as well as the loads of relatives to whom the city is home. Over the years and years of visiting the city, I learnt to find my way around, and enjoy its many sights, but it took my growth as a blogger and history / heritage enthusiast to realize that the Delhi I knew was just a small piece of the Delhi that was.
It is that Delhi that Ajay takes us to, or rather, the seven cities that had been Delhi in their own times.... cities built and ruined, time and again, cities built over what remained of even older cities...the Delhi that few of us see, and even fewer appreciate. Ajay takes on the role of a narrator or a guide, taking us through monuments which tell us the stories of those who built them, weaving into the history, legends as well as myths, with a sense of humour which keeps the reader engaged.
That Ajay’s focus is on the historical and cultural aspect of Delhi is apparent, even from his introduction, and it’s the historical part that the book is best for. He takes us through every period in Delhi’s ancient history, visiting monuments few of us would have heard of, such as the grave of Razia Sultan, or the Khair-ul-Manazil mosque, the name of which is actually a chronogram (the letters rearranged depict its year of construction!). What I loved were his detailed descriptions of certain areas – such as the Nizammudin Dargah, and Mehrauli – both places I am familiar with, but had no idea of all the monuments there, their importance and their quirks.
However, only a part of the book is about these historical monuments, roughly a bit more than a quarter of the book. The rest of the book deals with other features – such as markets, festivals, interesting quirks, out-of-the-way things to do.. and so on. It is completely understandable, considering that the book isn’t meant solely for heritage buffs, but the average traveller who would surely like to do something other than visit old, ruined sites.
I was at first surprised, on reading through, that none of the usual tourist places finds a mention in the book – such as Rashtrapati Bhavan or Parliament House (which we can even enter these days), the Bahai Temple, or the many wonderful museums that the city has. However, on second thought, I wonder if the omission was deliberate, since these places are already popular, and draw enough crowds.
To summarize, Delhi 101 is a compact guide to the city, and as the author says, is “an incomplete, illustrated, must-do guide”, at the same time, delivering the promise of showing us a surprising side of the city...worth a read, especially if you are planning a visit to Delhi.
The book was sent to me for review by Kunzum
Excellent review. Must acquire this book too, although I worked on Delhi City Guide Book, published by Outlook Travel Books. Delhi's wealth of information, pictures etc cannot be exhausted even if 1000 people cover it in different ways.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anuradha
Thanks Julia!!!! And I had absolutely no idea of that!!!! have to go get one as soon as I can! and you are so absolutely right! Delhi indeed has so much that its impossible to cover in one book, and by one person.. but on second thought.. isnt that true of any city.. even Mumbai, the places I would choose to write about would be so different from others's choices.. and we can simply go on and on and on! and Delhi is such an ancient city, with so much more history.. and is also bigger!
Deletenice report and beautiful collage, greetings Dietmut
ReplyDeleteThanks Dietmut, and the collage is the book cover
DeleteWhat a coincidence! I also wrote a short review of the same book.
ReplyDeleteAs we all say, Delhi can never be covered in books, and definitely never in a single book. :)
Aah,,, i dont think I read the review, Nisha.. heading straight over to read it now...
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