More than just a city, Mumbai is a concrete version of Paradise. “Mayangari” or the “city of dreams” gained this sobriquet due to the enormous opportunities it provides for people across the states as well as borders. With people of various cultures and classes, literary enthusiasts have always been attracted by the city. One can explore a city not only by visiting it but through books as well. Let us have a look at the amazing literary pieces portraying Mumbai.
Shantaram
Shantaram is a 2003 novel written by an Australian author Gregory David Roberts. The essence of his personal life merged with the exploration of various facets of a person’s life, providing a different perception towards life. The descriptions of various places in Mumbai listed in the novel entail the readers in visiting them. Also, the novel written in five parts explores the atrocious accounts of people and life in Mumbai. A philosophical, extraordinary bold novel that has the power to alter one’s approach to the world.
Family Matters
Family Matters is a 2002 novel written by Indian author Rohinton Mistry. The story deals with the various fateful choices by men from three generations of a Parsi family in Mumbai. He boldly took up various themes like secularism, corruption, immigration, alienation, death, familial bondings, cosmopolitan city life, human relationships etc in the novel. He describes Mumbai in Family Matters as “In her heart, there is room for everyone who wants to make a home here”.
Love and Longing in Bombay
Love and Longing in Bombay is a 1997 novel written by Indian-American author Vikram Chandra. The story with a distinct flavour of its own is about five interconnected but different people with the representation of the multifaceted and complex life in Bombay. The thread which ties together all the characters is Bombay. It reaffirms the “old” Bombay which crosses and recrosses the contemporary Mumbai.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity is a 2012 non-fiction book written by American journalist Katherine Boo. The story delves into an intimate look in the chronicles of real-life characters in Annawadi, Mumbai. Katherine Boo spent many years in Annawadi, researching the dilemmas of the lives in slums which is reflected in her book.
Lost Flamingoes of Bombay
Lost Flamingoes of Bombay is a 2014 novel written by Indian author Siddharth Dhanvant Sanghvi. The novel set in the 1990s of the metropolitan Bombay revolves around the lives of four characters. The prominent character is Karan Seth, who is new to the city of dreams as a newspaper photographer. The title is used as a metaphor for migratory flamingoes of Sewri, South Mumbai.
The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra
The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra is a comic crime fiction written by author Vaseem Khan. The hero is Ashwin Chopra, a 51-year-old inspector, and the story revolves around his unexpected retirement and various events following it. A Mumbai mystery tour in which the city continuously influences the actions taking place. The book takes the readers on a heartwarming trip into the lively Mumbai city.
