The City of Joy

I never thought I'd read this book ever. I had known of it long back but somehow its status as a bestseller made me forget it quite easily. However, I was reminded of this book when I was trying to figure out what I could read on my city to write my upcoming papers. Indeed, for a sociological study, this book is rich with data that can aptly sum up the essence of being in the city, at least, back when the novel was written. With a host of characters ranging from every given social stratum, the novel covers the various subjectivities we produce to make life possible in a city. Although the writing was smooth and that of a popular bestseller, I do not think I loved it as a work of fiction. Yes, as an ethnographic account, the was a good one because of the richly illustrated thick descriptions it provided of Calcutta back in the 70s. Today, names and some social situations of the city may have changed but what remains the same is the poverty of the slum, the exploitative relationships and the heartlessness of the city- from what I see. Funnily, the appellation City of Joy was not meant for Kolkata or Calcutta, according to the book. City of Joy was a slum neighbourhood (Pilkhana) in Howrah. Against the glory and romanticisation of Kolkata under the title, the novel's City of Joy continues to be impoverished and miserable. This was a heartbreaking read, every point of it portrayed the suffering of the inhabitants and their ways of finding hope and joy in the suffering which I do not think has been completely erased to this date. Next time, when I visit the slum neighbourhood that was shown in the book, I will keep the book, its title, its stories in my mind.