Chronicling struggles of common man in a metropolitan

Author's diary

People associate a metropolitan city with a lot of glamour. But life in a metro is beyond parties and having fun. A child has second thoughts about his parents being always right and a girl misses sparrows and is sensitive about animals — there are many unfulfilled aspirations in people. To carve a niche in the society, we all have to struggle. And this struggle and hard work is going to be reason of your success later on,” says Mithila Urmila Bagai.

Bagai, a political science lecturer at Maitreyi College of Delhi University, made her debut as author last year with her book, Nine Lives in a Metro: A Delight in a City of Fright.

The book is a collection of short stories inspired by the journeys of common people and the challenges they face throughout their lives.

“I picked up everyday issues that people face in their daily lives and penned them down in a language that the masses can understand. The idea behind these stories is to tell that even the media puts forward ideas that are popular. So we need to give space to new ideas and bring them in the mainstream,” Bagai tells Metrolife.

The book comprises chapters like ‘The Story of my Son’, ‘The Universal Silence’ and ‘Letter to a Father’. The ‘Story of my Son’ is the story of a father who loses a son. He adopts Gandhism to teach the exploiting doctors a lesson.

The ‘Letter to a Father’ is the story of a thought-provoking letter by a daughter which makes us think if parents are always right in their opinions and mannerisms.

“I am an optimist and I practise yoga and meditation. These practices have inspired me to have a constructive and not a deconstructive mind. I think that simplicity should be the fundamental of everyone’s life. This inspired me while writing these stories,” explains Bagai.

While the book is currently getting translated in Gujarati and Punjabi, Bagai is now working on the second part of the book, which is untitled as of now. “This time I have tried to address more series issues like terrorism, marital rape, female infanticide and organ donation,” she says.