Does an understanding of its politics / religion, crime and Bollywood put Bombay and the country at large, in perspective? Is Bombay still a microcosm, or is it as relevant today as it was in the 90s? What about I.T.? There was enough space for it in Navi Mumbai, still is. A lot of revenue that could have fixed many a problem for both Bombay and its satellite city was so lost to Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. The city missed the bus on that one back then, didn't it? Speaking of buses, there is the transport system, which to be fair, was briefly touched upon, but a host of other issues and subjects that went into the "beyond scope" bin.

I'd read Suketu Mehta's "Maximum City", which came out much later, before this one. "Maximum City" feels longer but reads alike in style and content. Virani also presents what is essentially non-fiction in fiction format. Or at least a few vignettes are like that. Like simulated dialog and atmosphere for the underworld bits and then some. S. Hussain Zaidi seems to adopt both this style and perhaps even "research" material for his "Dongri to Dubai" and its sequel, although Zaidi is exclusively underworld, and of course, the "adopting" could be entirely "coincidental", as it so often is. To be fair, the "reported" crimes were public domain. So, points to Virani then for being the first on the scene with that formula (as far as my knowledge goes, of course). She also does well to keep away from the essay mold, and either tells you a story based on reality or paraphrases interviews, essentially documenting her finds, in prose. Good creative style, I thought, that.

It isn't always a smooth read. I can't quite place my finger on it, it could have been the writing or it could have been just me, but it wasn't exactly riveting, if you know what I mean? It is perhaps deliberately dark and cynical even in closing, like there is no hope. That makes for difficult reading. I like a little bit, but not when they pile it on like that. How about some nice stories too eh? There weren't too many of those. That is part of the experience, the good with the bad, innit? You survive it all, and you got some city tale worth the name to tell. The bits on Bollywood was mostly interviews, so how could you go wrong? The history, that was fun too.

In summary: Like I mentioned, it skips many issues, touches on a few. On the bright side, it's a short read. Basically, it is a journalist's despair and consequent lament. Still, given what is in the market, it is one of the better books about the city. So, if you can identify with the Bombay of old, and are up to speed with the news reports from back then, you should like this one. If nothing else, you will learn yourself some new Bambaiya swear-words. 60s, 70s wala trader speak and some tapori slang which whether it be new to you or not depends entirely on which gali you crawl out of. So, "new" is relative like that. Pan, tari hi, shappath! porgi kay shivya kaadthe!
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