The epic city by Kushanava Choudhury
Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408888889
(Age: Adult) The subtitle is The world on the streets of
Calcutta and this aptly describes the focus of Choudhury's
book. Although a graduate of Princeton and Yale and thus successful
in the eyes of his proud parents, Indian immigrants who have carved
out a new life in the United States away from the tumultuous world
of Calcutta, it is that life cut off when he was only 12 that draws
Choudhury back again and again - it is there in the streets of
Calcutta that he feels his real self belongs. Nobody can understand
his decision to live and work in Calcuttta, when he has so much
opportunity elsewhere, and it even threatens his relationship with
Durba, the Indian girl who becomes his wife.
The book is a love affair with Calcutta and its street life full of
hawkers, fish-sellers, idol-makers, the whole gamut of livelihoods
lining the alleyways. And most interesting of all is the 'adda', the
spontaneous discussions of life and politics that can keep people
engaged for hours. Choudhury's book becomes like a collection of
adda, he tells us the stories of Calcutta, the intricacies of
flat-hunting, the lovers' retreats behind umbrellas in parks, the
long enduring crafts handed from one generation to the next, the
religious celebrations, and most especially the horrific impact of
the 1947 Partition on the lives of the people, divided into Hindu
and Muslim regions by the departing British colonialists.
The epic city is a rich revelation of the life and struggles
of the people of Calcutta, and would vividly re-ignite a
kaleidoscope of memories for any reader who has ever travelled to
India.
Helen Eddy