3 Review(s)

Ronald Vivian Smith is an author of personal experiences-a rare breed to find in a time when even journalists hesitate to put pen to paper without scanning through the Internet. A definitive voice when it comes to some known and unknown tales and an inspiration to a new generation of city-scribes, Smith is a master-chronicler of Delhis myriad realities. Among the capitals most ardent lovers, Smith believes in the power of observation and interaction. His travels across Delhi, most often in a DTC bus, examine the big and small curiosities seamlessly juxtaposing the past with the present. Be it the pride he encounters in the hutments of one of Chandni Chowks age-old beggar families, or his ambling walks around Delhis now-dilapidated cemeteries, Smith paints with his words a city full of magic and history. This anthology features short essays on the Indian sultanate, its fall after the British Raj and its resurrection to become what it is today the National Capital Territory of Delhi. No amount of bookish knowledge can compete with the sort of insights and real, lived memories he [Smith] has.Rakshanda Jalil, LiveMint. When it comes to writing on monuments of Delhi known, little known or unknown no one does a better job than R.V. Smith.Khushwant Singh, Hindustan Times'