Ranjana Sengupta

Biography of Capital City
Delhi metropolitan by Ranjana Sengupta is an ambitious attempt to write a biography of capital city of India , New Delhi.But the city is not new . It is one of the oldest cities of world having an ancient past dating back millenia BC.Thus the challenge for the author was huge and she come short of expectation of readers. Still , the book fills up a vaccume about the non availbability of books dealing with contemporary Delhi.
Of late there is a sort of surge of books on Delhi. More and more authors are trying to explore the city from different perspectives- political, social, cultural and religious. One hopes that this trend would continue and at the time of Commonwealth game Year 2010, there would be many more books to enlighten the visitors.
In recent years following books hit the stand. I read most of them. Here is my reading list-
1- Idea of Delhi- The book is collection of scholarly eassys.
2-Delhi That No One Knows- describes mediaeval monuments . A useful guide.
3-Delhi Then and Now- In two parts it describes the ancient past and contemporary history. Beautiful rare photographs.
4-Invisible Delhi- Glimpses of ancient and medieval period monuments with modern observations.
5- Delhi City of Yoginis- Describes Hindu Delhi of Mother Goddess Yogamaya, the pesiding deity of the capital city. A whole new perspective with gods, goddesses, yogins and yoginis
I am waiting eagerly the forthcoming book on Delhi by Sheila Dixit. A preview says that book descibes the melting pot character of the capital city.… (plus d'informations)