City of joy by Dominique Lapierrre…..
A little slow to finish with small print and close to 550 pages!….in normal print am sure it would have crossed a thousand!.…
This is an old novel written way back in the year 1985 originally in French…. Then translated in english….. Everyone of course will remember the movie starring Patrick Swayze…..
I am guessing that most would have read this one long back!… Think of this as a revision review then!
Coming to the book and the city of Joy….Calcutta….I sometimes feel Calcutta of the poor and downtrodden doesn’t change for ages even though the condition described in the novel has drastically changed with I guess newer problems and stories……the poor though will remain poor while the rich may get more richer!!… No one cares about what happens to the middle class though!…
The glorification of Indian poverty is a fertile ground for foreign garden of sorts!… With all the advancements and education we still are slumdog millionaires!!….it takes time folks…. Such an admixture of language culture and religion in such huge numbers makes it a mammoth task!… Please be patient!!
Don’t get me wrong; the way the situation in slums is presented by the author with vivid description is just mind boggling!….it’s akin to watching the toilet leak and clogging scene in the trailer of the movie Sanju!….true and bare!….
To put that in multiple stories and weave it into the day to day life in the slum is just amazing….. In fact the positivity in this was the response this novel generated around the world!…so much so that close to two million dollars have been given as donation just for the rehabilitation of the poor in India alone!….
In fact so many stories and narratives go parallel to each other so much so that each character story could have been made into a separate novel in itself!…. Thus this work is like an amalgamation of a myriad of stories interlocked in the setting of the city of joy…. The joy mostly remains in your thoughts and dreams only though…..
The description of Leper colonies and their treatment reminded me of our community medicine tour to a similar colony though this time the conditions were much much better….. another disease described was TB…. Both these are now well addressed though still a challange….
Baby steps is the only way considering the size of our population!!……
But in all this cesspool of poverty and drains you have such kind hearted people who are trying their best to make a difference!…. It doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, all it takes is an effort however small and it will definitely make a huge difference…..
If freedom at midnight was a joint effort and an epic, this one is pure Dominique and another epic!….. If you have ever been to Kolkata you will immediately connect with the novel while for everyone else it’s an eye opener of sorts…..
Kudos to the author for having managed such a big feat and making a difference…..
The author himself has added that the situation is much much better now which was quite positive…..
So amidst the clogged drains, the diseases, the rickshaw pullers who literally are pulling their life, the poor but kind neighbours and many many more characters who are at the nadir of poverty and life, the author and live still gives them hope, happiness and healers…. In that order…..
Hopefully one day this will actually become the city of joy….. In any case when nothing else remains…. Hope does….
What say big brother!!?…..
ramadocblog 