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From Ghalib’s Delhi and Ezekiel's Bombay to Kolatkar’s Pune and Utpal Kumar Basu’s Calcutta; from Sarojini Naidu’s Hyderabad and Arundhati Subramaniam’s Madras to Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih’s Shillong and Keki N Daruwalla’s Patna, The Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City contains over 200 poems that take readers on an evocative journey through 40 cities across India. The anthology comprises poems written in English and those translated from over 15 languages. From the 11th-century mystic Goraknath and the 13th-century Sufi Amir Khusrau, to 18th-century literary giants like Felicia Hemans, Mir Taqi Mir, and James Atkinson to contemporary 21st-century voices such as Ronojoy Sircar and Medha Singh, this is a rich and immersive lyrical exploration of India’s urban landscape.
Together, they take the reader through depictions of cities as imperial capitals, colonial outposts, and dynamic, ever-evolving spaces that serve as the backdrop for post-modern life. At its core, this collection portrays the Indian City as an ever-evolving, complex organism, a living embodiment of the collective consciences of its many, many residents. These poems reflect on urban existence through struggles and romances, fear and hope, and architectural and gastronomic motifs. A collection for not just those who live in the cities featured in this book but to anyone who is familiar with the chaotic, paradoxical, magical, multi-sensory tableau that constitutes life in a city in this part of the world.