Read Your Way Through Mumbai
A city of dreams on India’s western coast, Mumbai shimmers with ambition and sea breeze. Writer Zobia Alam recommends books that capture its spirit and struggle.
Read Your Way Around South Asia is a series exploring South Asian cities through books (inspired by the NYTimes’ series ‘Read Your Way Around The World’. )
“This city will always pursue you,” wrote the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy, even when you go to another country, another shore. The city that always pursues me is Mumbai, in all its blues and glory. For centuries, sailors, traders, artists, poets, dreamers, and refugees have arrived at its shores. Mumbai is abundant with stories of the past and the present, the real and surreal, the joyous and the melancholic, the affluent and the impoverished. It is a city that is forever fluid, where nothing is permanent, yet nothing is ever lost, much like the tides of the Arabian Sea.
Bombay was once a humble cluster of seven isles: the Isle of Bombay, Mazagaon, Parel, Worli, Mahim, the Old Woman’s Island, and Colaba. Over time, it was ruled by various indigenous communities and dynasties, including Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire, the Silhara dynasty, and the Gujarat sultanate. The islands were seized by the Portuguese empire in 1534, and later transferred to the British in 1661 as part of the marriage treaty between Charles II and Catherine of Braganza. In the 18th century, the city was restructured as a part of the Hornby Vellard land reclamation project. Roads and railways were constructed between the seven islands, forever transforming Bombay into British India’s primary seaport. As a result, the economic growth that followed in the 19th and 20th centuries allowed for ambitious urban expansions in the city. Along either side of the Oval Maidan, a glorious ensemble of Victorian Neo-Gothic and Art Deco buildings was constructed, a stretch of Mumbai’s architectural treasure that was recently recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2018.
By the turn of the 20th century, the city became a stronghold for India’s fight for freedom, with Gandhi’s Quit India movement, and leaders such as Lokmanya Tilak and B.R. Ambedkar at its forefront. Bombay pulsed with dissent from students, workers, poets, and singers. When independence finally arrived in the summer of 1947, Bombay became a part of the newly formed Bombay State. Later in 1960, the state of Maharashtra came into being, and Bombay was declared its capital. Interestingly, the name of the city was only officially changed to Mumbai decades later, in 1995, to emphasise its indigenous identity and honour the local goddess Mumbadevi.
Mumbai is full of wonder, diversity, and duality; it is the city that has shaped me, and I carry it with me everywhere I go. Today, home to over 22 million hearts, it is India’s financial and commercial capital, as well as the heart of its film industry.. Exploring Mumbai’s rich history, culture, and everything in between can feel like tumbling down a rabbit hole. There is always more to discover, with so much movement and music at every turn. Perhaps the most authentic way to understand this sprawling, chaotic city is through its literature, which captures the many fluid forms that make Mumbai what it is.
What Should I Read Before I Pack My Bags?
“Bombay, Meri Jaan: Writings on Mumbai,” compiled by Jerry Pinto and Naresh Fernandes, is an anthology of poetry, prose, and photographs that offers a rich introduction to the city through the eyes of its storytellers. The collection brings together the voices of icons such as Saadat Hasan Manto, Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, V.S. Naipaul, and Paromita Vohra, among many others. From the city’s history and political uprisings, to its jazz era of the 1960s and even a delightful recipe for Bombay Duck, the book reveals Mumbai in all its complexity. Within these pages, readers glimpse the many faces of the city and begin to discover the aspects that intrigue them most. As Jerry Pinto writes, “Everyone has a Bombay story. And everyone’s Bombay is not the Bombay we think we know,” a quote that perfectly captures your reading journey that lies ahead.
Suketu Mehta’s “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” explores the dizzying juxtapositions of Mumbai. Mehta returned to the city in 1998, after nearly two decades abroad, spending two and a half years researching and writing about the lives of politicians, police officers, film stars, bar dancers, and underworld leaders. The book offers a comprehensive account of the city’s socio-cultural history while also capturing the narrator’s own perspectives as both an insider and outsider to the complexities of Mumbai. Part-memoir, part-cultural analysis, it is a compelling reminder that the places we come from inevitably shape our being, even when we are miles away from them.
For those drawn to the city’s history, “Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie unfolds at the stroke of midnight on August 15th, 1947, the precise moment of India’s Independence. Awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction back in 1981, it is quintessential Rushdie, blending magical realism with rich historical insight . “The Moor’s Last Sigh” is another one of his novels set in Bombay, and is often considered a sort of a spiritual sequel to Midnight’s Children. As Moraes “Moor” Zogoiby traces his family’s complex past, Rushdie illuminates the politics and perils of living in Bombay during the 1980s and 1990s.
As a bonus read, Aanchal Malhotra’s “In the Language of Remembering” offers a profound reservoir of stories from the Indian Partition.Truly understanding any South Asian city requires acknowledging the legacy of Partition. The stories are told by our ancestors- the survivors - and from those of us who inherit their memories. It is by far, one of the most layered and compassionate accounts of this tumultuous moment in history. Structured around recurring expressions of memory, the chapters bear titles such as “Grief,” “Fear,” “Material Memory,” and “Migration.” Many of these stories are intimately connected to Bombay. Malhotra’s book is a powerful reminder that Partition is never truly in the past; it continues to shape our collective histories, memories, and identities even today.
What Books Will Help Me Explore The Many Facets of Mumbai And Its People?
Amid the city’s overwhelming chaos, Mumbai, at its heart, is defined by its people: their relationships, their shared experiences, their quiet resilience, and their sense of camaraderie. Writers from the city have long explored this spirit in their work.
Jerry Pinto’s debut novel, “Em and the Big Hoom,” is a gem. It follows the Mendes family as they move between their cramped 1-BHK home in Mahim and Ward 33 (Psychiatric) at Sir J.J. Hospital. The novel offers a nuanced portrayal of mental health in late-20th-century Bombay, an immensely difficult read but also one that brims with dark humor, sensitivity and poignant moments of familial love.
And when you’re ready for something lighter, turn to the delightful residents of Cavel, a cozy Catholic neighborhood on D’Lima Street. “Bombay Balchão” by Jane Borges is a collection of twelve connected short stories that will warm your heart and also share some insight into the Goan Catholic community’s heritage and history in Bombay.
Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance, perhaps his most celebrated work, is set during the Emergency of the 1970s. Four starkly different individuals are brought together by circumstance in a small Bombay apartment. Through the intertwined lives of the widowed Dina, two tailors and a young student, the story explores themes of discrimination, oppression and poverty – but ultimately it is a tale of friendship and resilience in the unforgiving city. While “A Fine Balance” may be the obvious choice, Mistry’s eleven overlapping short stories in “Tales from Firozsha Baag” will transport you straight into the heart of a Parsi colony, where the characters’ everyday lives unfold with utmost tenderness, humor, and nostalgia. As someone who has lived between Vancouver and Mumbai, Anosh Irani’s “Translated from the Gibberish: Seven Stories and One-Half Truth” is another powerful collection of short stories that resonates deeply and encapsulates the immigrant experience.
While many works of Bombay literature explore the lives of its long-term inhabitants, Anita Desai’s “Baumgartner’s Bombay” does quite the opposite. It tells the tale of Hugo Baumgartner, a Jewish Refugee who rebuilds a life in the city after fleeing Nazi Germany. Unlike the influential Baghdadi and Bene Israel Jews who settled in the city and influenced its art movements, this is a story of a lonely immigrant who finds friendship in cats and the owner of a local Iranian café.
Which Books Should I Bring Along With Me?
“Breathless in Bombay” by Murzban F Shroff is an interesting collection of fourteen different short stories, and was shortlisted for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Through the unique perspectives of dhobis, film stars, doctors, and lovers, it brings the city to life in more ways than one. To accompany your excursions, you may also consider “The Heritage Handbook: A Walk-Through Mumbai Fort,” by MMRHCS (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Heritage Conservation Society) and the People Place Project. The collection includes maps of the city, sketches and over 150 narratives along with descriptions of heritage buildings around the area.
What Are Some Places I Can Find Old And New Books In The City?
Bombay is alive with bookshops and corner stalls. Among the most beloved is Kitaab Khana, an independent bookstore tucked in the Fort neighbourhood. It has everything, from the latest fiction and non-fiction releases to children’s books and Hindi-language books. Just across from the Flora Fountain, you’ll also find rows of second hand book vendors on the street. Though the number of vendors have drastically reduced since the pandemic, the stretch still remains a cherished haunt for those searching for rare editions and timeless classics.
Zobia Alam’s Mumbai Reading List
“Bombay, Meri Jaan: Writings on Mumbai” compiled by Jerry Pinto and Naresh Fernandes
“Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” by Suketu Mehta
“Midnight’s Children” by Salman Rushdie
“The Moor’s Last Sigh” by Salman Rushdie
“In the Language of Remembering” by Aanchal Malhotra
“Em and the Big Hoom” by Jerry Pinto
“Bombay Balchão” by Jane Borges
“A Fine Balance” by Rohinton Mistry
“Tales from Firozsha Baag” by Rohinton Mistry
“Translated from the Gibberish: Seven Stories and One-Half Truth” by Anosh Irani
“Baumgartner’s Bombay” by Anita Desai
“Breathless in Bombay” by Murzban F. Shroff
“The Heritage Handbook: A Walk-Through Mumbai Fort” by MMRHCS (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Heritage Conservation Society) & The People Place Project
I’ve just read Midnights Children, and was captivated by Bombay and its stories. I am voraciously reading the Moors Last Sigh & loved this article!