Master Piece of a Book. Review on City of Djinns - William Dalrymple

*The author William darlmple takes you on journey through the history of Delhi which was once of great cultural cities of the world in Arts and Talent.

*The Travelogue starts with the meeting with Mr. Puris a Sikh family who have made the city their home post Partition the family has also suffered the Trauma of post 1984 riots.

The Authors interest in history of Delhi takes him to Old Delhi where he meets Mr. Jafferey who is leading a lone battle for survival of Persian Poetry and Mughal way of life. He finds a book called Twilight in Delhi which was written about the Delhi Tehzeeb and life in Delhi pre Partition.

The author is shocked to know that the author of that book is still alive in Karachi Pakistan where most of the 200000 Delhi Muslims had fled post Partition riots. In Karachi the erstwhile Delhi residents feel that the Delhi of today is a Punjabi Hindu dominated city and that Old Delhi is nothing but a Dust bin with Karkhana(labourclass) Urdu being spoken.

*Mr. Jafferey also introduces the author to an amazing book called Mirza Naama(Book of Gentleman) written in the Mughal era which lays down etiquettes of a Gentleman. There are important things like a Mirza should avoid telling shaggy dog stories or avoid listening to any long stories of his guest because such stories are styled the Prison house of conversation. He should eat his fill of watermelon and rice boiled with Spices should be preferred to other eatables. Mirza Namma concludes with saying that a Gentleman should not expect words of intelligence of good behavior from a person who puts big turbans on his head.

Many interesting *The Authors takes us throw many important events that shaped the City which are mostly unknown to us. The Execution of elder Brother Dara Shikoh by Aurangzeb, the sibling Rivalry between sisters Jahanara and Roshanara the latter being in close Proximity to Aurangzeb. The sexual innuendos between Emperor Shahjahan and his daughter Jahanara. The Years spent by Ibn Battuta the Moroccan Traveler in Tughlaks Delhi and Painful journey of Delhi inhabitants to Daluatabad

*The author also meets a few Anglo Indian families who still live in the erstwhile winter capital of Simla its interesting to note that the British had briefly thought of making a homeland for Anglo Indians in Chote Nagpur, Macluskie Gunj.

But the most interesting encounter the author has is with Chaman Guru and his chelas the chief of the Eunuchs. The Chief of Eunuchs speaks of Sean Connery “we were called Khwaja Saras and not Hijras” says the chief. We used to live in the Kings house. Those days we never danced Our Job was to Listen and tell the King. We were like your Sean Connery tells the Eunuch Chief.

The Book takes you too many old and places of Delhi which have been long forgotten and neglected. The Destruction was started by the British who destroyed important buildings of the city like Naqqar Khana in Red fort, uprooted Mughal Gardens and replaced them with sterile English Lawns. The place of Marble fantasies British tore down, The British erected some of the most crushingly ugly buildings ever thrown up by the British Empire. A set of barracks in the Red fort. That seems to have been modeled on the wormwoods scrums of UK.

According to the author the Barracks should have been torn down years ago but the forts current proprietor the Archeological Survey of India have lovingly continued the work of decay initiated by the British: white Marble Pavilions, have been allowed to discolor, plasterwork has been allowed to collapse; the water channels have cracked and grassed over; the fountains are dry, only the Barracks look well Maintained.

That concludes the Saga of Delhi which was once a way of Life.