Maximum City is a first person narrative nonfiction novel by Suketu Mehta. Published in the year 2004, it has won many awards including the Pulitzer. It is an autobiographical take on the city of Mumbai. Written through many stories, the debutante author brings out the horrors and wonders of Mumbai.
The book begins with a neat pace, starting with the author describing his personal geography and how his childhood fared in Mumbai. The circumstances that made his family shift to Jackson Heights in New York are aptly told. The author, after twenty one years, comes back to Mumbai and finds it greatly changed and affected by the past events which have not been very good. At first, the author writes like an outsider and as the story moves forward, he writes like one who is born and brought up in the city. The protagonist is the author himself and is like a half-between; belonging both to the outside world and also to Mumbai.
The book describes the socio-political scenarios of the city through wonderfully woven tales, giving an inner knowing feeling to the reader. The book analyses many recent events that have taken place in Mumbai. The first story he strikes upon is the 1993 riots. How it started, the Sri Krishna Report and the role of the saffron flag. Through many interwoven tales, the author brings into light the Hindu-Muslim angle, the raising of slums along railway tracks, the politics that were played during the riots, the Bombay Rent Act and its implications on the inhabitants. The book then moves on the Mumbai police where the protagonist makes friends with a popular cop who he tells to have arrested Sanjay Dutt. Through him, the author brings to light the feelings of Mumbai police towards the events that have occurred during his tenure, about the encounter specialists and many other things that will entrance a reader. Then it takes on the God fearing underworld, why they do what they do, many other things besides. Through many interesting depictions, the power tales end in a dialog with Chota Shakeel, the aide of Dawood Ibrahim.
After many such interactions, the protagonist has now made many friends. But he is now fed up with violence and decides to explore the softer side of Mumbai. This part starts with the experience of eating vada-pavs, a local delicacy. Where to go, how they are made, their magic touch, all of its aspects are nicely described. The book moves on to describe the bar dancer’s circle. This part is quite emotional in its own respect. The author describes how they feel, why men go to the beer bars, the business of such places, why Mumbai is a bar dancer’s hub, how it is linked to the underworld. The author also tries to bring to light why the bar dancers do what they are doing and why they feel that they should not be termed as sex workers as common man perceives, via two brilliant tales – one that of a bar dancer with which the protagonist makes a friendship with and another who is a man by birth but dances like a woman. The part ends up in describing the black links of Bollywood and the underworld, the nuances of film making, the feelings of Mr. Sanjay Dutt in his acquittals and most importantly, the making of Mission Kashmir- a film by Vidhu Vinod Chopra (the author is also a co-writer of Mission Kashmir). This chapter also aptly describes the lives of film industry strugglers and the various problems faced by them.
The third and the last part starts off with the protagonist’s memory mines. Here, the author returns to his childhood, the same school in which he had studied. He briefly describes his school tenure, the punishments that he had received, the beatings doled out to students, the school life of children. And all this ends when the author meets a Jain diamond merchant. This story makes the protagonist realize the need to renounce material world and take up a position as a Jain monk. He describes himself in the last as a self in the crowd.
I would recommend readers who do not like gore to skip the 1993 riots part and maybe read it in the end. That part reads itself like a gangster movie.
The book holds the reader till its end and is one of the most gripping nonfiction that a reader may ever come across. The book starts off very well, although its pace slackens at some places making it a little boring, especially when it reaches the last part. The dialogs are very neatly written and can engage a reader effectively. The title of the book is apt for Mumbai is really a city where life can be a maximum.
The book has carved out a niche of itself in the last five years and holds out on its own. This book is a must read for those who would like to have a socio-political and geographical analysis of Mumbai, for those who love Mumbai with their heart, for those who aspire for Mumbai and also for those who live in Mumbai (for these, the book will revive the recent memories, raising their emotions over the tremors of Mumbai), although others may find it interesting as well. The book is one of those great literary geniuses. The reader can know just about everything of Mumbai; it is as if the author has captured this great city into a 580 page book.
In short, it is a nonfiction that reads like fiction.
Author: Varun Prabhu, Global Bangalorean. You can read more of his work here.
