On The Shelf

Edited by Michael Alexander
Delhi and Agra: A Travellers Reader | Robinson

Like moths to a flame, travelers have flocked to Delhi and Agra. The obvious reasons gain an exhilaratingly dia­chronic perspective here—from Tamerlane’s account of the sack of Delhi, early European chroniclers like Manucci and Bernier agape bef­ore Mughal splendour to early colonials like Emily Eden and survivors of the ‘Mutiny’. But the framework is unabashedly Orientalist—stiff Europeans looking in, with only a few Indian voices represented.

Divya Prakash Dubey
Musafir Café: An Unusual Love Story | Westland

Modern Mumbai furnishes the bac­kdrop to a romance between firm-minded Sudha and Chandar, a man who wavers between convention and adventure. Yes, the lovers do enjoy alluding to their namesakes, the Sudha and Chandar of Dharamvir Bharati’s classic Gunahon ka Devata. This novel is the first of Hindi author Divya Prakash Dubey’s works to be translated into English.

Imraan Coovadia
A Spy In Time | Speaking Tiger

Sometime in the 23rd century, when Johannesburg alone has survived a supernova crash that destroys the world (no White people are left, and the few with lighter skin have to darken their pelts to meld in), Enver Eleven is tasked to prevent a repeat disaster, and travels across time (Rio, 1967; Marrakech, 1955) and into space (Jupiter) to perform it. Everyone speaks like us, though.