Overview

The city has had a long history in India, from the urban civilization of the Indus Valley in 2500 BCE to the megalopolis found in contemporary India. This is the first anthology of the city in India since around 1800, with an accent on the twentieth century. Drawing on fiction, poetry, essays, travel narratives, and scholarly studies in history, anthropology, and cultural studies, this two-volume anthology presents insights into the city with a mix of readings from the most renowned writers, established scholars and authors, and younger voices. Including poems, short stories, essays, and social commentaries by 64 writers, this volume, in particular, looks at the politics and violence in the city, the social web of life in the metropolis, the dalits, labourers, slum-dwellers, and outsiders, the many ethnicities, art and culture, and the past and future of the city. With contributions from leading writers and scholars including M.J. Akbar, Thomas Blom Hansen, Amitav Ghosh, Harriet Ronken Lynton, Bhisham Sahni, Shiv Visvanathan, Martha Ann Selby, Abdul Halim Sharar, Mirza Ghalib, Tanya Marie Luhrmann, and James Manor, this volume comes with a comprehensive Introduction by Vinay Lal which sets the context for the writings and a special reader's guide for the interested reader.

Full Product Details

Author:   Vinay Lal (, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA))
Publisher:   OUP India
Imprint:   OUP India
Dimensions:   Width: 14.60cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 21.80cm
Weight:   0.704kg
ISBN:  

9780198091813

ISBN 10:   0198091818
Pages:   528
Publication Date:   December 2013
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ; INTRODUCTION: MODERN INDIA AND THE CLAIMS OF THE CITY ; IDENTITIES, INTERESTS, INSTITUTIONS: POLITICS AND VIOLENCE IN THE CITY: LUCKNOW (FOLK SONG) / P.C. JOSHI ; THE TILAK RIOTS / S.M. EDWARDES ; THE 1984 CARNAGE AND ITS AFTERMATH / MANOJ MITTA & H.S. PHOOLKA ; A SPLIT-LEVEL WAR IN JAMSHEDPUR / M.J. AKBAR ; LAND TO THE KILLER / SHIV VISVANATHAN ; SHIV SENA, THE CITY, AND COMMUNAL POPULISM / THOMAS BLOM HANSEN ; THE SOCIAL WEB OF LIFE IN THE METROPOLIS: FLUTE-MUSIC / RABINDRANATH TAGORE ; URBAN FRAUDS / DOOSA RAJAGOPALA BHOOPATHY ; THE TRUTH ABOUT DHANYA / NISSIM EZEKIEL ; JUTHIKA / PREMENDRA MITRA ; MAIN BOMBAI KA BABU NAAM MERA ANJAANA / SAHIR LUDHIANVI ; THE GREAT BIG CITY / PREMENDRA MITRA ; THE DAYS OF THE BELOVED / HARRIET RONKEN LYNTON AND MOHINI RAJAN ; WINTER IN CALCUTTA / AMITAV GHOSH ; A STREET IN SRINAGAR / CHANDRAKANTA ; THIRST / MARTHA ANN SELBY ; SHARAVANA'S SERVICES / VIVEK SHANBHAG ; PARKING / RUCHIR JOSHI ; A COMICS WORKSHOP WITH POSITIVE WOMEN NETWORK / WORLD COMICS INDIA ; HE NEVER CAME AGAIN / SUNITA NISHAD ; IN YOUR NAME / NEELOFAR ; LIVING AT THE CITY'S PERIPHERY: DALITS, LABOURERS, SLUM-DWELLERS, AND OUTSIDERS: MUMBAI / NARAYAN SURVE ; THE UNINTENDED CITY / JAI SEN ; 'SON, EAT YOUR FILL' / DAYA PAWAR ; UNDER DADAR BRIDGE / PRAKASH JADHAV ; BASANTI / BHISHAM SAHNI ; THE POOR AMID AN URBAN CATASTROPHE / JAMES MANOR ; DHARAVI / JEREMY SEABROOK ; POOR CHAMPUDI / VARSHA ADALJA ; THE MILLWORKERS OF GIRANGAON, AN ORAL HISTORY / MEENA MENON AND NEERA ADARKAR ; SLUMS AS SELF-CONFRONTATION / ASHIS NANDY ; A DEATH IN DELHI / SHANKAR RAMASWAMI ; MULTIPLE CITIES, MANY ETHNICITIES: CLAIMING AND DISOWNING THE CITY: JOURNEYING TO CALCUTTA & ENGLISH EDUCATION IN THE METROPOLIS / LAL BEHARI DAY ; SHADOWS OF NIGHT / S.M. EDWARDES ; SHREE 420 / KHWAJA AHMAD ABBAS AND V.P. SATHE ; THE AFTER-LIFE OF THE RAJ IN INDIAN ACADEME / ASHIS NANDY ; THE GOOD PARSI / TANYA LUHRMANN ; STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND / DAUD HAIDER ; PILI AANDHI / PRABHA KHETAN ; THE CITY OF THE MIND / ASHIS NANDY ; MONOLOGUE OF THE CITY / MANGALESH DABRAL ; LOWER CHITPUR ROAD, KOLKATA / GARGA CHATTERJEE AND PRIYANKA NANDY ; ART, CULTURE AND CONVIVIALITY IN THE CITY: THE MUSIC OF HINDOSTAN / H. FOX STRANGWAYS ; LUCKNOW: THE LAST PHASE OF AN ORIENTAL CULTURE / ABDUL HALIM SHARAR ; LAUGHTER AS SUBVERSION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY CALCUTTA / SUMANTA BANERJEE ; PARSI THEATRE IN 19TH-CENTURY BOMBAY / KATHRYN HANSEN ; BAHRI ALANG: BENARES'S IDEOLOGY OF LEISURE / ARVIND KALA ; THE TOWN INDIA FORGOT / AMARESH MISRA ; THE CHENNAI MUSIC SEASON / V. SRIRAM ; NEW WINE IN THE OLD BOTTLE / TIMERI N. MURARI ; RUINS OF CITIES PAST-AND FUTURE?: DELHI: THE MUTINY AND ITS AFTERMATH / MIRZA GHALIB ; THE SONG OF THOSE WHO TRIED TO ESCAPE DARKNESS OF THE CITY / CHANDRASHEKHAR KAMBAR ; BHOPAL: A REPORT FROM THE FUTURE / SHIV VISVANATHAN AND HARSH SETHI ; CHANDIGARH / RAVI KALIA ; BOMBING BOMBAY? / M.V. RAMANA ; THE MODERN INDIAN CITY: A VERY SHORT READER'S GUIDE ; NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

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Author Information

Vinay Lal is currently Associate Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); he was Professor of History, Delhi University, 2010-11. He is the author and editor of a number of books with OUP, including The History of History: Politics and Scholarship in Modern India (Delhi: OUP, 2003; new and enlarged edition, 2005); Fingerprinting Popular Culture: The Mythic and the Iconic In Indian Cinema, co-edited with Ashis Nandy (Delhi: OUP, 2006); and Political Hinduism: The Religious Imagination in the Public Sphere (ed.) (Delhi: OUP, 2009).

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