Of folk tales, walking the streets and cartographic specks that have inspired books about cities, the divergence in an old-timer’s notion of home town and its chaotic modern day manifestation or the radically different ways in which inhabitants of the same city perceive it to be...
An engaging discussion among five authors here on Thursday covered a gamut of talking points and challenges in their respective journeys toward discovering the souls of the cities in their books.
The roundtable on cities hosted at the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) as part of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival 2019 brought together five authors — Anu Majumdar and Akash Kapur, writers from Auroville, who have authored books on the universal township, Nirmala Lakshman, Director of The Hindu Group of Publications and author of Degree Coffee by the Yard , Aditi Sriram and P. Raja, historian-author.
Mr. Kapur pointed out that when he grappled with the question about what it was that defined Auroville for his book he wanted it to steer clear of the philosophical content that was dominant in the writings coming out of the City of Dawn .
The book thus conveys the complex concept behind the founding of Auroville through the “lived reality” of growing up there.
Ms. Sriram, who recently came out with first book, Beyond the Boulevards , pointed to the city’s phenomenal history — a melting pot of Dutch, Portugese, British and French colonial influences — and the shifting stories and changing perceptions that bring the city to life. One remarkable thing about the city was that amid all the dramatic changes in the landscape, one still felt that “one had a handle on things,” she said.
Mr. Raja recounted that the inspiration to write the Concise History of Pondicherry came as much from his school teacher who always emphasised the importance of a grasp of local history as from his exposure to myriad folk tales of the region that largely shaped his perspective.
Ms. Lakshman recounted how as she worked on her book on Chennai, she developed newer insights into what the city really was and how it differed from the assumptions ingrained while growing up.
She also pointed to the revelation about how different her notion of the city was from that of a fisherman whose perception of Chennai was confined to the Marina Beach and the neighbourhood fish market.
New hope
She noted that events such as these helped foster a new hope of “pulling things together” in the face of homogenised urban agglomerations across the country and rediscovering the true soul of cities.
Ms. Majumdar, who moderated the discussion, noted that what distinguished the works of participant-authors was that the narrative was not removed from the realities of other people
Frederic Landy, Director French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) and Sunaina Mandeen, co-founder of PondyCan and organiser of the festival, also participated.
