<p>Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan, Zara hat ke zara bach ke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan This song from the Bollywood movie CID aptly captures the spirit of Mumbai, the spirit Gyan Prakash’s Mumbai Fables so exemplifies.<br /><br />The city of dreams and dreamers, Mumbai exudes a charm that’s almost irresistible. Fanning fantasies in the romantic in all of us, Mumbai creates the impression of a city nobody can dare to hate. The glitz and glamour of Bollywood and the cosmopolitan outlook of the city evoke a sense of awe among non-Mumbaikars. But, scratch the surface a bit and the real Mumbai emerges. The Mumbai that has survived many blunders and disasters, only to emerge stronger. <br /><br />Tearing through the flamboyance of Mumbai, Gyan Prakash digs out nuggets of the city’s captivating past, fashions stories built on its famed uniqueness and carts off misconceptions about the place. As the story of Mumbai unfolds in Mumbai Fables, the reader finds himself absorbed in the many trials and tribulations the famed city has gone through. The narrative, put together by information gathered from varied sources, is a rich tribute to the famed spirit of the place that doesn’t give up even under trying circumstances.<br /><br />Though the book is all about Mumbai’s history, it is a history that’s related well, as seen through the eyes of hardcore Mumbaikars in their art works ranging from paintings, sculptures and comic strips to books, poems and movies. Covering every aspect of Mumbai, the book is a revelation of sorts for Mumbaikars and non-Mumbaikars alike. For instance, how many of us are aware that Sir Jamshetjee Jejeebhoy, whose name graces the famous art school Sir J J School of Art and the popular Sir J J Hospital, earned his exalted place through drug trafficking, and that early Victorian Bombay was better known as the ‘Opium City’?<br /><br />Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Probably Naoroji M Dumasia’s account of Mumbai is right — “The city was deceptive; its complexity and appearance concealed what went on under the surface.” Crime and deception were rampant, aptly related by Mumbai Fables. <br />There were the cotton mill workers and the politics surrounding the mills; the rise of the red light district; the infamous Nanavati murder case and how the report in Blitz saved the perpetrator of crime; the bungling of city planners that has resulted in a city that exemplifies haphazardness in design and architecture, so on and so forth. <br /><br />On the brighter side, the city had stuff dreams were made of. Bollywood, with its popular movies like CID, Shree 420 and Taxi Driver, portrayed the love, freedom and cosmopolitan nature of Mumbai, as also underlined the relationships based on literature and art. As Gyan Prakash presents the various faces of Mumbai, he draws material for his portrayal of Mumbai from newspaper reports, novels, poems and books. If Marathi Dalit poems painted Mumbai as an oppressor that “ensnares the oppressed into its fold with its promise of livelihood and freedom, only to squeeze and smother them,” Dalit writer Daya Pawar is left wondering “what has this city really given me.”<br /><br />No history of Mumbai will be complete without a mention of Bal Thackeray. And, Mumbai Fables does just that by digging deeper into the essence of Mumbai and chronicling the rise of Shiv Sena and its despise for all things South Indian. The book, that presents the history of Mumbai with a novel-like quality, evokes images of a city that is no less than an enigma. Coming from this Dayton-Stockton professor of history at Princeton University, Mumbai Fables is no doubt a celebration of Mumbai’s fabled spirit. But, his recourse to Harvard referencing in every other line tends to make the prose pompous and tiresome.<br /></p>
<p>Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yahan, Zara hat ke zara bach ke, yeh hai Bombay meri jaan This song from the Bollywood movie CID aptly captures the spirit of Mumbai, the spirit Gyan Prakash’s Mumbai Fables so exemplifies.<br /><br />The city of dreams and dreamers, Mumbai exudes a charm that’s almost irresistible. Fanning fantasies in the romantic in all of us, Mumbai creates the impression of a city nobody can dare to hate. The glitz and glamour of Bollywood and the cosmopolitan outlook of the city evoke a sense of awe among non-Mumbaikars. But, scratch the surface a bit and the real Mumbai emerges. The Mumbai that has survived many blunders and disasters, only to emerge stronger. <br /><br />Tearing through the flamboyance of Mumbai, Gyan Prakash digs out nuggets of the city’s captivating past, fashions stories built on its famed uniqueness and carts off misconceptions about the place. As the story of Mumbai unfolds in Mumbai Fables, the reader finds himself absorbed in the many trials and tribulations the famed city has gone through. The narrative, put together by information gathered from varied sources, is a rich tribute to the famed spirit of the place that doesn’t give up even under trying circumstances.<br /><br />Though the book is all about Mumbai’s history, it is a history that’s related well, as seen through the eyes of hardcore Mumbaikars in their art works ranging from paintings, sculptures and comic strips to books, poems and movies. Covering every aspect of Mumbai, the book is a revelation of sorts for Mumbaikars and non-Mumbaikars alike. For instance, how many of us are aware that Sir Jamshetjee Jejeebhoy, whose name graces the famous art school Sir J J School of Art and the popular Sir J J Hospital, earned his exalted place through drug trafficking, and that early Victorian Bombay was better known as the ‘Opium City’?<br /><br />Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Probably Naoroji M Dumasia’s account of Mumbai is right — “The city was deceptive; its complexity and appearance concealed what went on under the surface.” Crime and deception were rampant, aptly related by Mumbai Fables. <br />There were the cotton mill workers and the politics surrounding the mills; the rise of the red light district; the infamous Nanavati murder case and how the report in Blitz saved the perpetrator of crime; the bungling of city planners that has resulted in a city that exemplifies haphazardness in design and architecture, so on and so forth. <br /><br />On the brighter side, the city had stuff dreams were made of. Bollywood, with its popular movies like CID, Shree 420 and Taxi Driver, portrayed the love, freedom and cosmopolitan nature of Mumbai, as also underlined the relationships based on literature and art. As Gyan Prakash presents the various faces of Mumbai, he draws material for his portrayal of Mumbai from newspaper reports, novels, poems and books. If Marathi Dalit poems painted Mumbai as an oppressor that “ensnares the oppressed into its fold with its promise of livelihood and freedom, only to squeeze and smother them,” Dalit writer Daya Pawar is left wondering “what has this city really given me.”<br /><br />No history of Mumbai will be complete without a mention of Bal Thackeray. And, Mumbai Fables does just that by digging deeper into the essence of Mumbai and chronicling the rise of Shiv Sena and its despise for all things South Indian. The book, that presents the history of Mumbai with a novel-like quality, evokes images of a city that is no less than an enigma. Coming from this Dayton-Stockton professor of history at Princeton University, Mumbai Fables is no doubt a celebration of Mumbai’s fabled spirit. But, his recourse to Harvard referencing in every other line tends to make the prose pompous and tiresome.<br /></p>
