This book Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity was launched almost at the time when I shifted my base from my favorite city Bangalore to Gurgaon. Which falls under the umbrella of Nation Capital Region (popularly called NCR) and hence considered a part of Delhi. I have always been looking at books that I can recommend to the visitors to India, that they can read to know about the city and country that it is. Being someone who likes to write about my travels, this book was also about traveling within the city that you live in. So I picked up this book. To read about someone’s experience of traveling around this giant city. To re-connect with Delhi that I left behind some 7 years ago. And to explore another style of travel writing.
But what drew me most to this book was the fact that it was written by someone who actually walked around the huge city in a spiral and experienced the city. I always felt that in an ideal city, the distances should be such that the city can be covered on foot by an average walker. Beyond that, the cities should not expand. Of course in the big cities, it does not even apply to the sub-cities or suburbs. During my travels, I like to do some early morning walks in the city to see how the city wakes up. There is no doubt that the best way to know the place is to walk around, stop at anything that catches your attention. And talk to people here and there, the kind of people you may never meet otherwise.
This book Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity is as much about the author as it is about Delhi. In fact, in lots of places, it is about the relationship that the author shares with the city. Sam went around the city, starting at the center of the city today is CP Metro station. And then took an anti-clockwise spiral route to explore the city on foot. His complete journey was divided into 12 sub-routes, which put together formed the planned spiral. He has just followed his route and speaks about the places and people that he met on his way. It looks like that he deliberately does not talk about the popular tourist spots of Delhi. But he does mention the places which he thinks deserve a better mention in the guidebooks of Delhi but has been neglected all along.
He also writes amusingly about the people he met, some by design and some by default. He talks about some strange encounters he had with people during his walks. Which sometimes make an interesting reading. And at times looks like stretching it too much. But probably the difference may be of a local and a non-local eye. Some things that we find very normal are usually not so to a foreign eye.
The book is written in a new way. The twelve chapters are from the 12 walks that the author did to write the book. From the way they are written, it looks like that each walk was done in a day. Barring a couple of chapters when the author had to break the walk and come back some other day to complete it. Two consecutive chapters are separated by an Intermission. Where the author has put down his thoughts on various things about living in Delhi. Primarily coming from his own experience of living in Delhi. Most of the times these appear as random thoughts that occurred to the author as he was writing the chapters and included them in the book. There are pictures, most of which have been taken by the author himself during the walks.
Each chapter begins with a map of the route that the author took. Depicting the landmarks, topology, author’s route and events mentioned in the chapter. The events actually make author’s journey look quite adventurous. I definitely want to visit some of the parts mentioned. And walk around to feel the place. The title of each chapter has been written in the third person while the whole book is written in the first person, probably required a bit more efficient editing. It may sound frivolous, but the font and the layout of the book, do contribute to the overall readability. And that is where this book could have been better. The photos are not aligned, the margin on the pages not properly designed. Far too many footnotes which could have moved to the back of the book.
The book Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity has been written more like a blog with a whole lot of research done on Google and references provided. Overall, I think the author could have gone a level deeper. The flow could have been a little better. But nonetheless, it is a welcome book, as it explores an area not many have dared to explore: Walking a mega city on foot. This also looks at Delhi as it exists today. Rather than focusing too much on its glorious and colorful past only.
Whether you live in Delhi, visiting Delhi or simply interested in Delhi as a city, this book Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity can make an interesting reading for you…
Sam, if you read this blog, I would like to go out for a walk with you sometime…:-)
Buy this book – Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity by Sam Miller at Amazon India.
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any interesting places mentioned in the book that I could walk down to ?
I live in delhi and am looking to explore the city.. I’d rather avoid the regular tourist spots.
I have just been given this book as a present, and it starts off a bit laboured, but soon picks up on Sam's ability to turn the smallest encouter into a laugh, much like Bill Bryson. Places you can go that you may not have heard of..too many of them are just non-descript, I have not yet read the whole book, but the Baoli sounds intriguing, as does the Indian Life insurance building, which I never noticed. From what I have read so far, he missed some fantastic places, like the Lajpat Nagar market!!! I think it should be on Wiki, so that we can all add our stories to it..Sam if you read this then that would be an idea!