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Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity
Delhi is a travel book with a difference: a beautiful, considered meditation on one man’s obsession with this great city. Miller’s quest is the here and now, the unexpected, the ignored and the eccentric. In the process he creates a rich portrait of what Delhi means to its residents.
292 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2010
22 people are currently reading
593 people want to read
About the author
Sam Miller
130 books11 followersThere is more than one author with this name
Sam Miller was born and brought up in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and Politics at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, before joining the BBC in 1986, for which he has worked, on and off, ever since. In the early 1990s he was the BBC World Service TV and radio correspondent in Delhi, and on his return to the UK in 1993 was the presenter of the BBC ’s current affairs programme, South Asia Report. Later he became the head of the Urdu service and subsequently Managing Editor, South Asia. He was posted back to Delhi in 2002 and has remained there ever since. He is the author of Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity (2009) and Blue Guide: India (2012).
Sam Miller was born and brought up in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and Politics at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, before joining the BBC in 1986, for which he has worked, on and off, ever since. In the early 1990s he was the BBC World Service TV and radio correspondent in Delhi, and on his return to the UK in 1993 was the presenter of the BBC ’s current affairs programme, South Asia Report. Later he became the head of the Urdu service and subsequently Managing Editor, South Asia. He was posted back to Delhi in 2002 and has remained there ever since. He is the author of Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity (2009) and Blue Guide: India (2012).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
March 6, 2024
In 2007/08, Sam Miller decided to split Delhi into spirals which he would walk in sequence so that he could explore the city in depth. He had lived there for many years with his Indian wife and their children so he already knew it very well. He starts in Connaught Place and gradually wends his way outwards, finishing in the satellite city of Gurgaon. By then, he’d had altercations with various assorted animals and humans, including being threatened (possibly not seriously but it was hard to tell) by knife-wielding butchers, and had visited every kind of neighbourhood from those where aspiring Indians and foreign residents live to those where immigrants and others yet to benefit from the supposed trickledown effect of India’s burgeoning economy live, some in temporary shelters on landfill sites where they spend their days raking through rubbish for anything they can sell or repurpose.
There is a lot of humour on the journey but there is also deep sadness. It’s not that we in the West are unaware of the desperate poverty experienced by those in other parts of the world but to have it described to us in detail, on the very human level of allowing people to be heard through their own words, is humbling to say the least. Yet, in even those living in the most abject poverty, there is rarely an absence of optimism and that moved me beyond words.
I read this as background reading for a trip to Delhi later this year. I know there will have been huge changes as the city is growing and transforming all the time. It is currently the second most populated city in the world after Tokyo. My edition would have benefited from better proof reading and some of the images were hard to see but I really enjoyed the writing style and the journey so I’d strongly recommend it to anyone with a particular interest.
There is a lot of humour on the journey but there is also deep sadness. It’s not that we in the West are unaware of the desperate poverty experienced by those in other parts of the world but to have it described to us in detail, on the very human level of allowing people to be heard through their own words, is humbling to say the least. Yet, in even those living in the most abject poverty, there is rarely an absence of optimism and that moved me beyond words.
I read this as background reading for a trip to Delhi later this year. I know there will have been huge changes as the city is growing and transforming all the time. It is currently the second most populated city in the world after Tokyo. My edition would have benefited from better proof reading and some of the images were hard to see but I really enjoyed the writing style and the journey so I’d strongly recommend it to anyone with a particular interest.
April 10, 2012
For a person who enjoys walking and discovering places...this book was an amazing read. I found nodding my head vigorously when the author mentions that Delhi-ites never walk and it is true. I have always wondered why people who live in a city which is full of things, people and places to discover, never bother to do so. Anyway, it was an enjoyable read though a lot has changed in the city from the time the book was written and yet many things still remain the same ! Sam Miller takes a humorous look at the wonderful city of Delhi without the normal condescending tone adopted by westerners when writing about things Indian, but for his surname and the colour of his skin, he could easily have been an Indian from another part of the country exploring this paradoxial city which is our capital.
October 27, 2014
The author is an Englishman living in, and having had a reasonably lengthy association with Delhi, takes the approach of a 18th century French flaneur - someone who walks aimlessly around a city. Although not quite aimlessly - he navigates Delhi on foot in a spiral pattern, starting at Connaught Place, working his way out, anti-clockwise. On the way he visits many places - some appear to be on a 'must see' itinerary, others are random and minor - and many people. Most are interesting, some he makes only a short connection with, others a more lengthy interaction. All of these contribute to a flavour of Delhi.
I was surprised to only enjoy this book as far as 3 stars. The premise for the book is great, most of the individual anecdotes are interesting, the interludes are relevant and interesting. It just didn't grab me. There is nothing here that makes me want to explore Delhi more than say, Mumbai, or Chennai, or Bangalore (all four are Indian cities I haven't been to).
However, it was enjoyable, and likable book, and very easy to read - I worked through it in a couple of days.
I was surprised to only enjoy this book as far as 3 stars. The premise for the book is great, most of the individual anecdotes are interesting, the interludes are relevant and interesting. It just didn't grab me. There is nothing here that makes me want to explore Delhi more than say, Mumbai, or Chennai, or Bangalore (all four are Indian cities I haven't been to).
However, it was enjoyable, and likable book, and very easy to read - I worked through it in a couple of days.
January 11, 2016
The author and I share the same passion which is walking. The best part about Delhi is that you get to see both extremes of the world, rich and poor. His decision to explore the city by feet was the wisest and the looks Delhiites gave him on hearing the same was extremely hilarious but true.
As born and raised in this city, I guess, I already knew most of the places he visited but the insights he gave was refreshing and his humour was intact. I love the fact when author portrayed how Delhiites are trying so hard to look and behave like westerners, while this gora (foreigner) was trying equally hard to settle-in in without being an outsider.
The historical monuments which are often ignored by its people were nicely written on the basis of which he threw some light on the history of Delhi.
I wish he could display more about the diversity of culture which Delhi holds and their frame of reference through which they see the city. It is one of those very few cities in India which is home to almost all religion. caste and creed in the country.
The show-se-baazi is second to none in its people. You will find it hard to distinguish people on the basis of their looks about their socio-economic status, as everyone likes to flaunt and that too a little loudly. We could go out without taking a bath (pun intended) but not without the brands we like to show-off.
Please note, Delhi also have much more beautiful sights and people, which makes it quite an incredible place you could ever encounter in your life.
As born and raised in this city, I guess, I already knew most of the places he visited but the insights he gave was refreshing and his humour was intact. I love the fact when author portrayed how Delhiites are trying so hard to look and behave like westerners, while this gora (foreigner) was trying equally hard to settle-in in without being an outsider.
The historical monuments which are often ignored by its people were nicely written on the basis of which he threw some light on the history of Delhi.
I wish he could display more about the diversity of culture which Delhi holds and their frame of reference through which they see the city. It is one of those very few cities in India which is home to almost all religion. caste and creed in the country.
The show-se-baazi is second to none in its people. You will find it hard to distinguish people on the basis of their looks about their socio-economic status, as everyone likes to flaunt and that too a little loudly. We could go out without taking a bath (pun intended) but not without the brands we like to show-off.
Please note, Delhi also have much more beautiful sights and people, which makes it quite an incredible place you could ever encounter in your life.
November 2, 2011
I really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't get over the structure. It's a series of vignettes of scenes and people encountered by the author as he walks in a spiral through Delhi. It should be awesome, but for some reason, it wasn't. While I got a few glimpses of what the city might be like, most of the little anecdotes just didn't go anywhere, and I was never able to establish any sort of emotional connection with the book or the author. I slogged through it, hoping that would change, but it didn't.
October 8, 2022
It took me a while to get through this book, not because I didn’t find it interesting. Instead, I read it with Google Earth and Google Street View open so that I could retrace the steps the author took as he walked through the streets of Delhi. The author, a British expat, decided he wanted to walk through the streets of Delhi, recording his encounters with the city and its residents. In plotting his course, he decides a spiral walking pattern emanating from Connaught Place, a major retail center, would provide the best coverage and allow him to experience as much city as possible. He stressed the fact that he wanted to accomplish this trip all on foot and emphasizes the importance of walking in cities given the social interaction it provides. He writes about the people he met along the way and situations he experienced, all of which were unplanned and unscheduled.
During his walk, the author discusses the city’s history and architecture as he visits parks, monuments, and notable streets. The book is not a tourist guide, however. He frequently talks about the pollution and lack of infrastructure characterized by open sewers and traffic clogged roads. The city’s Metro transit system, ridge, and Yamuna river form key components of Delhi’s urban fabric and are regular features in his walk. As an urban planner myself, I enjoyed his discussions of the city’s own urban planning including a visit to the University’s planning department.
During his walk, he talked to the residents he met and discussed some of the unique situations in which he found himself. Some of his highlights included being chased by feral pigs, witnessing funerals on the Yamuna river, and meeting people who actually make their home in the Ghazipur landfill, which is essentially a mountain of trash. The end of his trip takes him to Gurgaon, a newer planned suburb of Delhi that resembles the suburban landscape of the US with malls, fast food restaurants, and high rises. He laments that this new city lacked the experiences he had in the older parts of Delhi, and thereby lacked the “charm” that contributed to the old city.
The author’s chapter’s correspond to different parts of his walk but he sometimes interrupts the chapters by introducing “intermissions”. At first, I didn’t like these intermissions but as the book went on, I came to enjoy them as they all related back to Delhi itself. For example, in one of the intermissions, he discusses how he tried to recreate Delhi in the game SimCity.
Overall, I recommend this book for anyone interested in urban planning, architecture, megacities or those just interested in the lives of people of Delhi.
During his walk, the author discusses the city’s history and architecture as he visits parks, monuments, and notable streets. The book is not a tourist guide, however. He frequently talks about the pollution and lack of infrastructure characterized by open sewers and traffic clogged roads. The city’s Metro transit system, ridge, and Yamuna river form key components of Delhi’s urban fabric and are regular features in his walk. As an urban planner myself, I enjoyed his discussions of the city’s own urban planning including a visit to the University’s planning department.
During his walk, he talked to the residents he met and discussed some of the unique situations in which he found himself. Some of his highlights included being chased by feral pigs, witnessing funerals on the Yamuna river, and meeting people who actually make their home in the Ghazipur landfill, which is essentially a mountain of trash. The end of his trip takes him to Gurgaon, a newer planned suburb of Delhi that resembles the suburban landscape of the US with malls, fast food restaurants, and high rises. He laments that this new city lacked the experiences he had in the older parts of Delhi, and thereby lacked the “charm” that contributed to the old city.
The author’s chapter’s correspond to different parts of his walk but he sometimes interrupts the chapters by introducing “intermissions”. At first, I didn’t like these intermissions but as the book went on, I came to enjoy them as they all related back to Delhi itself. For example, in one of the intermissions, he discusses how he tried to recreate Delhi in the game SimCity.
Overall, I recommend this book for anyone interested in urban planning, architecture, megacities or those just interested in the lives of people of Delhi.
July 18, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. It was already special to me since the author was the keynote speaker at my graduation in Delhi, but on reading it, I wish I had known more about him before I had seen him speak. At the time I didn't know much about him except that he had not been very positive about our school in his book, so I knew a few people were questioning why he spoke at our graduation, but after reading the book I understand. He really loves Delhi, and not just the posh parts of Delhi or the history behind it but all of it. This is very clear from the way he took the time to walk around the entire city in a spiral formation when walking in Delhi is usually not so easy and is a bit dangerous, and his knee injury made it even more difficult. It is also clear from the way he describes the people and the scenery around him; he sees humor all around him, but unlike a lot of foreigners his humor isn't full of mocking. He obviously cares deeply for the people of Delhi, most especially the poor, who have little voice and are often taken advantage of. He also cares about Delhi's future, as well as its past. There was so much history in this book, and it was really nice to revisit Delhi through the places in this book.
This book also tries to address the issues of modernity and globalization in a very open way. The author doesn't think he has the answers to these problems or that we should just stop time now and not let Delhi move into the modern age, but he also points out that if Delhi becomes ultra modern, it might end up feeling just like every other city in the world, and lose its character and personality. People want shopping malls, yet they take up space that once was unique and might have been the site of a Mughal mosque.
I also like the way Miller was able to speak to the poor in this book, and not just look at them and make his own faulty assumptions. It is priceless to be able to communicate with someone so different from yourself. I especially like the part where he sees the rag pickers at the garbage dump and at first has all these assumptions about how awful their lives are until he actually talks to some of them and learns that this is actually a pretty good job and the people who do it are normal people with children that even go to college and everything.
A really enjoyable book. Even if you never go to Delhi, it is still a great read.
This book also tries to address the issues of modernity and globalization in a very open way. The author doesn't think he has the answers to these problems or that we should just stop time now and not let Delhi move into the modern age, but he also points out that if Delhi becomes ultra modern, it might end up feeling just like every other city in the world, and lose its character and personality. People want shopping malls, yet they take up space that once was unique and might have been the site of a Mughal mosque.
I also like the way Miller was able to speak to the poor in this book, and not just look at them and make his own faulty assumptions. It is priceless to be able to communicate with someone so different from yourself. I especially like the part where he sees the rag pickers at the garbage dump and at first has all these assumptions about how awful their lives are until he actually talks to some of them and learns that this is actually a pretty good job and the people who do it are normal people with children that even go to college and everything.
A really enjoyable book. Even if you never go to Delhi, it is still a great read.
November 27, 2012
This is an offbeat but delightful book about Delhi, capital of India. Sam Miller is British (even when his passport states "Person of Indian Origin"), married to an Indian, a resident of Delhi conversant in Hindi. Here he guides the reader on a walking tour around the city, along segments of a large spiral path unwinding from its center. Some travelogues may be padded for extra bulk, but not this one, chockfull of charming encounters, unpredictable incidents and unconventional landmarks. After a slow start the book levels at a hectic pace: better read just one chapter at a sitting, or you could overdose on trivia, footnotes and web links. In a way, each chapter is a separate story.
Miller writes in an informal, homespun style, illustrated by crude hand-drawn maps and grainy black-and-white photographs. Delhi is an ancient city, at one time arguably the largest on Earth, a title it now seems anxious to regain, although rivalry for that questionable distinction is steep, especially from Chongqing in China. Between then and now Delhi has survived but did not thrive. The most recent blow was the collapse of the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857 (aka "the first India war of independence"), when British soldiers conquered Delhi, deposed the Mogul and shifted the country's capital to Calcutta. Delhi's eminence was restored at the "Great Durbar" of 1911, when Britain's King George the 5th visited Delhi. The British then built "New Delhi" outside the old walls, later swallowed by a megalopolis expanding at half a million per year.
A walk around Delhi is a good introduction to India's people, to India's culture and to the many quirks of its society. One reads of modern crematoria maintained by the government but hardly used, because most Indians believe that unless a body is properly cremated on a pyre of wood, its soul is not reincarnated but roams the world as a disembodied ghost. The country is in the midst of a great transition: villages empty into cities, bullock carts are replaced by urban rapid transit, office buildings adjoin open sewers (Delhi's Yamuna river is one), and personal enterprise thrives next to a giant civil service.
The culture is ancient and diverse. Numbers, for instance: India gave us not only the concept of zero, but its language includes 'sava' meaning one and a quarter, 'derh' is one and a half, 'dhai' two and a half, 'lakh' hundred thousand and 'crore' ten millions, making the city's reported population around derh crore. English is an official language, since none of the ethnic languages was ready to yield first place to another one. The city has beautiful temples and monuments, also numerous ancient forts, as well as a forested ridge in its midst, where the prince and princes of Oudh dwell in genteel poverty. Also a giant masonry sundial, the Jantar Mantar (its name has come to denote "abracadabra" in Hindi), where a geocache site waits to be located by explorers with receivers of the GPS (global positioning system), but it is just a virtual site because of roaming goats.
Need one go on with this deadpan weirdness? Where else does one encounter a man pushing a handcart filled with severed cattle ears, telling the author they are "for a factory"? Swastikas are good-luck symbols, the embassy of Togo is in an automobile showroom, a "traffic park" teaches children to obey traffic signals as they walk its paths, and a pay-phone service hooked to a satellite is run from an outdoor table by an enterprising individual?
Yes, there is great poverty and too many people lead a marginal existence, but violence is relatively rare, and individuality simmers everywhere. This is a remarkable snapshot of a style of life which may change completely within the span of a generation: hard to predict where it is heading, but for the visitor at least, its current state is fascinating.
Miller writes in an informal, homespun style, illustrated by crude hand-drawn maps and grainy black-and-white photographs. Delhi is an ancient city, at one time arguably the largest on Earth, a title it now seems anxious to regain, although rivalry for that questionable distinction is steep, especially from Chongqing in China. Between then and now Delhi has survived but did not thrive. The most recent blow was the collapse of the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857 (aka "the first India war of independence"), when British soldiers conquered Delhi, deposed the Mogul and shifted the country's capital to Calcutta. Delhi's eminence was restored at the "Great Durbar" of 1911, when Britain's King George the 5th visited Delhi. The British then built "New Delhi" outside the old walls, later swallowed by a megalopolis expanding at half a million per year.
A walk around Delhi is a good introduction to India's people, to India's culture and to the many quirks of its society. One reads of modern crematoria maintained by the government but hardly used, because most Indians believe that unless a body is properly cremated on a pyre of wood, its soul is not reincarnated but roams the world as a disembodied ghost. The country is in the midst of a great transition: villages empty into cities, bullock carts are replaced by urban rapid transit, office buildings adjoin open sewers (Delhi's Yamuna river is one), and personal enterprise thrives next to a giant civil service.
The culture is ancient and diverse. Numbers, for instance: India gave us not only the concept of zero, but its language includes 'sava' meaning one and a quarter, 'derh' is one and a half, 'dhai' two and a half, 'lakh' hundred thousand and 'crore' ten millions, making the city's reported population around derh crore. English is an official language, since none of the ethnic languages was ready to yield first place to another one. The city has beautiful temples and monuments, also numerous ancient forts, as well as a forested ridge in its midst, where the prince and princes of Oudh dwell in genteel poverty. Also a giant masonry sundial, the Jantar Mantar (its name has come to denote "abracadabra" in Hindi), where a geocache site waits to be located by explorers with receivers of the GPS (global positioning system), but it is just a virtual site because of roaming goats.
Need one go on with this deadpan weirdness? Where else does one encounter a man pushing a handcart filled with severed cattle ears, telling the author they are "for a factory"? Swastikas are good-luck symbols, the embassy of Togo is in an automobile showroom, a "traffic park" teaches children to obey traffic signals as they walk its paths, and a pay-phone service hooked to a satellite is run from an outdoor table by an enterprising individual?
Yes, there is great poverty and too many people lead a marginal existence, but violence is relatively rare, and individuality simmers everywhere. This is a remarkable snapshot of a style of life which may change completely within the span of a generation: hard to predict where it is heading, but for the visitor at least, its current state is fascinating.
August 20, 2012
I've never read a "travelogue" before; this one just popped out at me at the library so I picked it up. I loved the idea: walking through the city in a spiral to see all of the variation within it. And Delhi is so jam-packed, there is a lot you can see. The stories he told were generally interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always with that sense of Truth, that "yeah, that could happen" quality. The further I got, though, the less he seemed to be in an "observer" role and the more he seemed to want to romanticize. There's a lot to learn about how Delhi was in 2009, though how applicable it still is I have no way of telling.
December 11, 2015
Eh. I didn't finish it. I'm pretty obsessive about all things India, but I didn't care much for the author himself, and he's the central figure/storyteller, so it was hard to just appreciate the stories of the eccentricities and details of Delhi. His continued use of "flaneur" annoyed the crap out of me. It's probably a good book if he doesn't annoy you.
January 29, 2018
If Delhi ever needed a geometric metaphor, it would have to be the circle. From the different dynasties and political parties that rose and descended along its Ferris wheel of power to the 'ring' roads that serve as the arteries for navigating the city, Delhi's circularity is both ancient and modern. In 'Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity', Sam Miller redefines this circle in an entirely refreshing way. A modern-day flâneur, he sets out to explore Delhi in spirals and with no fixed agenda. His resultant experiences range anywhere between the hilarious and the blood curdling.
Written in a voice that's at once empathetic and snarky, the book is a delightful mix of travelogue, memoir, reportage and social commentary. Miller's discoveries are unique, foreign not only to transient tourists but even to many old-time residents. His insider-outsider worldview lends his vignettes a special lens.
Written in a voice that's at once empathetic and snarky, the book is a delightful mix of travelogue, memoir, reportage and social commentary. Miller's discoveries are unique, foreign not only to transient tourists but even to many old-time residents. His insider-outsider worldview lends his vignettes a special lens.
May 22, 2024
I've read quite a few travelogues of India, and this is definitely one of them. A spiralling walk through Delhi, from its ceremonial centre to its new-build outskirts. It hits more or less the same notes that every exploration of India does – which either means they're all revealing the same truth, or they're all trotting out the same stereotypes – but Miller (a BBC journalist who lived in Delhi on and off since the 90s) has at least a layer of ironic detachment. Sometimes I could have done without the irony (the chapter headings, all in the style "In which the author enjoys a most quirksome and unusual happenstance", made me want to throw this book) but it also means that he steps back and interrogates his own perceptions – particularly with regards to the millions of devastatingly poor adults and children living on Delhi's streets, dumps and sewer banks, who are neither pitiable wretches nor brave noble souls but humans living full, complicated lives.
April 30, 2019
I love walking to explore new places and in this book Miller attempts a heck of a walk: he takes a gigantic spiral walk around the city in the spirit of psychogeography, and captures the absurdities he encounters while embedding them into historical tidbits of the city. A novel approach to travel writing that manages to give a richly textured but also entertaining account of the complexity that is Delhi.
June 24, 2024
This book really is just a long, meandering walk through modern Delhi, which is exactly what I wanted. I read this book to get an idea of what Delhi is like since it will likely be a while before I get there myself. I thought Miller did a great job at describing the complexities and nuance of the city. It’s also obvious how much he loves Delhi, as an expat who married a local.
I’d love to write a book like this someday!
I’d love to write a book like this someday!
May 20, 2025
the party, the The way this journal/book is written is good. You enjoy each chapter of it and it is interesting. The description of the walks of the author are imaginative and funny. You also get to know about Delhi, its people and especially the odours. What I want to say is that I felt a bit of an absence of praise or the eye with the positives of the city. It focuses on the other part more than the good parts.
April 11, 2023
An insightful , first person narrative of a city the size of most countries - indeed a city that could be experienced as at least 4 different countries. This was illuminating even for me as a native, because quite frankly very few of us actually get to see/experience the city the way the author does. Recommended!
December 30, 2025
Love love love this !
There’s such a sharp humour in Sam Miller’s rendition of Delhi that the pages turn themselves in a reading sprint. If you are piqued about Indians and their cultural melting point -I.e Delhi , this is the best pick!
There’s such a sharp humour in Sam Miller’s rendition of Delhi that the pages turn themselves in a reading sprint. If you are piqued about Indians and their cultural melting point -I.e Delhi , this is the best pick!
February 11, 2018
A must read for all People who live in Delhi but know so little about their city.
February 20, 2019
‘Ardiyesso.’ 😂
December 21, 2020
Reminded me of the city-my city- which is more memory than reality today. Reading this book was like hearing someone speak of your childhood home where your best times were spent.
August 17, 2022
An interesting perspective on a dynamic city, so a bit dated.
March 20, 2024
My companion book on a trip to Delhi
October 7, 2018
Enjoyed the book immensely. As someone who has lived in Delhi for the last few years, and visited some of the places the author mentions, it was a delight to read about the author’s travels through Delhi, especially to the oft-ignored regions. The author’s humour also makes the book a delightful read, making the pages just flow. However, at times, I was not able to connect with the author due to the time gap separating me from the book. Though the author’s experiences in the book are at the most a decade old there is already a vast change in how we live our lives, courtesy of the greater globalisation of Delhi, smartphones and apps.
December 3, 2017
I love walking in cities and reading about other people walking in their favourite cities. Flaneurs of the world unite! I read it right before a trip to Delhi in 2017 and it became very obvious how much the city has changed in the 7 years since this book was published. Still it was a delightful read and interesting way to get to know this city through another's eyes.
February 1, 2017
This book took me on a bit of critical roller-coaster. At first, I couldn't understand what Miller was getting at -- is this really just a travelogue of his wander through Delhi? Then, I was flummoxed by the seemingly random changes in tense. Sometimes he'll switch from past to present tense, back and forth, several times in the same story. I was little disappointed a hundred pages in, but still thoroughly entertained, if one can feel both ways at the same time.
Gradually though, Miller's scattered, disjointed vignettes began to congeal into a portrait of Delhi, musings on its character, past, present, and future -- whether this was his intention or not it's a bit difficult to say. His tone slowly shifts throughout the book from cheeky commentary on revolting restaurants, haphazard car parks, non-sensical children's gardens, and scheming poop squirters, to thoughtful commentary on what Delhi stands for, how it retains its soul as it explodes into, quite possibly, the world's largest city, and how its residents interface with all of the city's contrasts -- its opulence and poverty.
I started out with low expectations that, early on, I didn't think would be met. But I ended up finishing the book and looking online for what else Miller has to say about Delhi and India. This is a good, insightful read (probably not for copyeditors, however, as it's frustratingly messy in places).
Gradually though, Miller's scattered, disjointed vignettes began to congeal into a portrait of Delhi, musings on its character, past, present, and future -- whether this was his intention or not it's a bit difficult to say. His tone slowly shifts throughout the book from cheeky commentary on revolting restaurants, haphazard car parks, non-sensical children's gardens, and scheming poop squirters, to thoughtful commentary on what Delhi stands for, how it retains its soul as it explodes into, quite possibly, the world's largest city, and how its residents interface with all of the city's contrasts -- its opulence and poverty.
I started out with low expectations that, early on, I didn't think would be met. But I ended up finishing the book and looking online for what else Miller has to say about Delhi and India. This is a good, insightful read (probably not for copyeditors, however, as it's frustratingly messy in places).
Read
February 13, 2014Miller decides to explore his adopted city on foot by starting at its centre, Connaught Place, and working outwards in ever increasing circles. He deserves full marks for sticktoitiveness, Delhi is not a city built for walking. It is, despite the author's fondness for it, quite awful. He runs into open sewers, ponds of water where mosquitoes pass on dengue fever, an open-air abattoir and oh yes, falls into an open manhole. Delhi continues to grow and the economic miracle of the 1990s puts middle class housing and shopping cheek-by-jowl with the very poor. Miller visits the famous rubbish mountain and its resident rag pickers. Just outside of Delhi proper is a mammoth, western-style suburb called Gurgaon with shopping malls, skyscrapers and zooming highways. Miller, finding no street life here, hates it. India, fascinating in all its guises, is opened wide in this book.
August 30, 2013
This is a surprisingly good book. It is not long, and the manner in which the book has been written makes it a pleasure to read. I like the tool of using "intermissions" between chapters, and this makes it refreshing.
There is a lot of good information about Delhi, and about some more stuff as well. I figured that I know Delhi well, and I do, but there were enough surprises that were thrown up from time to time.
Sam evidently does have a feel for Delhi, and a lot of "positive energy" towards the city. This comes through very clearly, and it shows even when he writes about the not so savory parts of the city.
A good read indeed!
There is a lot of good information about Delhi, and about some more stuff as well. I figured that I know Delhi well, and I do, but there were enough surprises that were thrown up from time to time.
Sam evidently does have a feel for Delhi, and a lot of "positive energy" towards the city. This comes through very clearly, and it shows even when he writes about the not so savory parts of the city.
A good read indeed!
January 3, 2010
An entertaining account of the author's spiralling walk around Delhi. Peppered with some tasty footnotes. As ever, the coverage of Old Delhi and the preceding Sultanate era provide the best reads.
Although the book starts with great energy and wit it sadly runs out of progressively more steam and limps towards the finishing line (much like the author who falls over at least 4 times in the course of the book).
William Dalrymple's City of Djinns remains the best modern travelogue of the city.
Although the book starts with great energy and wit it sadly runs out of progressively more steam and limps towards the finishing line (much like the author who falls over at least 4 times in the course of the book).
William Dalrymple's City of Djinns remains the best modern travelogue of the city.
July 31, 2011
Somebody called Delhi the greatest psychedelic show on earth. On that count this book really does not provide too many answers. Maybe someday a born and brought up in Delhi kind of a Delhite would have the passion to walk the streets in the same way, maybe then we would have clearer answers as to what makes the city tick and behave like it does,...Meanwhile this one is more like observations on city landmarks...Yet, thanks to the mangeable size and fluidity of narrative is immensely readable.
April 30, 2013
Nice read about the author's experiences in Delhi. I liked his unique way of spiralling across Delhi, starting from CP. I wanted to know about contemporary Delhi, this book provided me an insight.
Well, the experiences Sam Miller had were at times not believable, but well, I don't know about Delhi's hidden corners. He talks about many pleasant and unpleasant experiences. The unpleasant ones tends to hurt Delhiite sentiments. Many a times there are quite humorous incidents that keeps the reading light and enjoyable. Overall I think the book portrays a very unbiased opinion on Delhi.
Well, the experiences Sam Miller had were at times not believable, but well, I don't know about Delhi's hidden corners. He talks about many pleasant and unpleasant experiences. The unpleasant ones tends to hurt Delhiite sentiments. Many a times there are quite humorous incidents that keeps the reading light and enjoyable. Overall I think the book portrays a very unbiased opinion on Delhi.
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