Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta
It is considered a great book by many on Bombay – now Mumbai. The writer shows us what makes this city special and different from other big cities in India. He goes on to give a very detailed information on how the city operates. It is the mafia, slums, Bollywood, corruption that makes the city a 'Maximum City.'
There are certain sections of the book that I enjoyed reading. When this book was written, there were powerful politicians who ruled the city. One name that immediately comes to mind is that of Bal Thackeray. Mehta's meeting with him, as it was described in the book, is an interesting one. Even though Bala Saab was an extreme right, pro-Hindu politician and journalist, he did not know where his house was located in Bombay. He did not know the geography of the city. This was actually scary in the sense that people who become so powerful and have the destiny of millions in their hands could be so monumentally ignorant.
Another fascinating trope in the book is where the author talks about Mafia and slums. Almost everyone in Mumbai, especially the privileged, is marred by the presence of mafia– in direct and indirect ways. Half of the book is the study of Mafia and its connection with the Bollywood. For instance, he writes about 'Bombay Blasts' of 1993 and the well-known actor Sanjay Dutt's involvement in it. The book in very conspicuous ways tells us how class, caste and even the knowledge of the English language help one to survive the city. Of course, one knows this because this true for most other Indian cities too. However, it is the underworld that put Bombay in another zone. Also, Unlike other urban centers in India, Bombay is the business center. It is the work that matters here and not the protocols. But unfortunately, bureaucracy works here in the same ways as it does in other parts of India; it crushes the poor and works only for the tiny few.
One must add that the city has also certain pluses such as it is safe for the women. So many societal rules and traditions that are stringently followed in the rest of the country are less in vogue in Bombay. However, the city has its own problems, its own character that makes it at once enticing and diabolic. One notices this binary. Perhaps, it is the diabolic features of Bombay that appeal to Mehta.
There are books that you read and you love them, and then you write reviews. There are other books that you read with effort, and then write reviews with even greater effort. I guess for me this book is too big and in parts, it becomes boring, very boring. I wonder how come so many people claim this book to be the greatest book ever written Bombay – now, Mumbai. For instance, I find such claims rather absurd because at least i know of one other author – Manto – who wrote brilliantly on Bombay. Unlike Mehta, Manto wrote on the city as one of its members. Mehta's gaze on the city is that of a disinterested (western) anthropologist on his own city. At times this is a plus, and sometimes it reeks of snobbery and self hatred.
There are certain sections of the book that I enjoyed reading. When this book was written, there were powerful politicians who ruled the city. One name that immediately comes to mind is that of Bal Thackeray. Mehta's meeting with him, as it was described in the book, is an interesting one. Even though Bala Saab was an extreme right, pro-Hindu politician and journalist, he did not know where his house was located in Bombay. He did not know the geography of the city. This was actually scary in the sense that people who become so powerful and have the destiny of millions in their hands could be so monumentally ignorant.
Another fascinating trope in the book is where the author talks about Mafia and slums. Almost everyone in Mumbai, especially the privileged, is marred by the presence of mafia– in direct and indirect ways. Half of the book is the study of Mafia and its connection with the Bollywood. For instance, he writes about 'Bombay Blasts' of 1993 and the well-known actor Sanjay Dutt's involvement in it. The book in very conspicuous ways tells us how class, caste and even the knowledge of the English language help one to survive the city. Of course, one knows this because this true for most other Indian cities too. However, it is the underworld that put Bombay in another zone. Also, Unlike other urban centers in India, Bombay is the business center. It is the work that matters here and not the protocols. But unfortunately, bureaucracy works here in the same ways as it does in other parts of India; it crushes the poor and works only for the tiny few.
One must add that the city has also certain pluses such as it is safe for the women. So many societal rules and traditions that are stringently followed in the rest of the country are less in vogue in Bombay. However, the city has its own problems, its own character that makes it at once enticing and diabolic. One notices this binary. Perhaps, it is the diabolic features of Bombay that appeal to Mehta.
There are books that you read and you love them, and then you write reviews. There are other books that you read with effort, and then write reviews with even greater effort. I guess for me this book is too big and in parts, it becomes boring, very boring. I wonder how come so many people claim this book to be the greatest book ever written Bombay – now, Mumbai. For instance, I find such claims rather absurd because at least i know of one other author – Manto – who wrote brilliantly on Bombay. Unlike Mehta, Manto wrote on the city as one of its members. Mehta's gaze on the city is that of a disinterested (western) anthropologist on his own city. At times this is a plus, and sometimes it reeks of snobbery and self hatred.
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