Monday 7 September 2020

The Portrait of a City

© Collage Poster Deepa Kylasam Iyer 2020

Short Biography of Cities Series (2013), Aleph, New Delhi.

There is something very assuring to the reader about short introductions and mini-series. I suppose it has to do with size; books of shorter length look conquerable, portable, and manageable. It is like running the smaller versions of marathon so that the amateur feels confident of completing the race. Nearly all of the introduction-series by various publishers also takes pains to bring color, design, and layout to the package that loudly suggests ‘ease’ to the idea of a book. I love reading philosophy and history in short versions (Oxford introductions and Routledge short series come to mind), find my footing or acquire a taste, and then move to the grander and sturdier tomes.

When I discovered the short biographies of cities (Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata) in my collection, I knew they had to be read together. First off, these mini-books are under 170 pages, roughly (15cm x 10cm), and hard bound with beautiful ivory covers on which delicate water colored themes open the gates to the city. The narrator is usually someone who has either lived a greater part of her life in the city, or has an indubitable connection to the ‘urbs’. The story of the city often begins with the grand sweep of history, then meanders through personal histories as we travel the nook and lanes of its landscape. There are maps and memories to fill in the bits nobody can speak about anymore. The best part is perhaps a gentle pointer to the bigger, definitive dramatic narratives on the city to which this simple sketch could be seen as a prelude to. I sure hope a second round of series come soon with smaller towns of southern Asia from the same publisher.

Till then, at this time of the year when everything collapses from the bright light of the relentless summer to the gentle dark of the inevitable fall, the time of in-between things, grab a cup of something soothing and dip into a short escape to something so grand as a city!

 

 


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