Lyrically Yours

A remarkable travelogue across Indian cities through the years

- Vineetha Mokkil IS ASSOCIATE EDITOR, OUTLOOK. SHE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK A HAPPY PLACE AND OTHER STORIES

INDIA has six mega cities with a population of over ten million; Mumbai and Delhi are two of the ten largest cities in the world. Mass migration to cities carries on like a river in spate. If ever there was a moment to map the contours of the Indian urban experience—its history and geography, its emotional resonance—it is this. And what better means than poetry to immerse ourselves in the voices that animate Indian cities, the lives that populate their busy streets and narrow lanes? Thirty-seven Indian cities via 375 poems: readers get to journey across them in The Penguin Book of Poems on the Indian City (Ed. Bilal Moin). This collection includes poems translated from 20 Indian languages as well as those written in English. Anthologies of city poems from across the entire country are a rarity. This vibrant mosaic is a gift readers will cherish.

Charles Baudelaire, poet and perennial wanderer (flâneur as the French would put it), lamented: “The form of a city changes faster, alas, than the human heart.” Yet, poets have always been intrigued by cities. The urban experience is grist for the poet's mill: the city’s tender turns and ruthless games; the manic rhythms; the mysteries cloaked in smog and grime. But are all cities essentially the same? You've seen one you've seen them all? Do Indian cities have a quintessential 'Indianness'? Does a common thread run through all of them? Reading this collection is an enjoyable way of searching for the answers.