Maximum Tardiness

Posted on by

This is the post, for which five of you have been patiently waiting. Finally, you get to dissect Maximum City, the first work chosen for the brown book club which I am horrible at coordinating.

If it’s any consolation, I have cringed and felt guilty that my work + ankle have delayed our exploration of MC, especially after reading two-months worth of comments and emails which asked about the fate of our summer nerdery. I know several of you couldn’t wait for this discussion which is so late, it is later than IST-late, and that is late my friends, yindeed.

Well, since I couldn’t get the job done, I got creative (read: desperate). I outsourced it to Uberdesi blogger Karthik. 😉 Here are his thoughts on MC; I look forward to reading yours in the comment thread below.

After weeks of procrastination and a few days of grim determination, I can finally, happily strike Maximum City off my list of books to read. I had borrowed a friend’s copy, and I left their house wondering why they were so enthusiastic about handing it to me, since they were supposed to be reading it for SM, too. Now, I know.
After putting myself through that, I was ready to express my thoughts, and so like many of you, I emailed ANNA about when we were going to start discussing the book. She said that if I wanted to “get the party started”, I was welcome to do so, since she still hadn’t been able to finish it herself. I know she’s busy, but that itself is telling, people.
One question kept popping up in my head. Why did he pick these people to write about? The answer was buried in the final chapter of the book; I wish Sukethu had chosen to add this to the introduction.
At times, Sukethu goes into details that in my opinion are not needed, and some are very violent. There is also a very haphazard way in which the book is written. I find this maddening, people come and go and scenes change quickly. Before you comprehend certain pieces of information, you are presented with new ones. Everything is a mishmash of thoughts and ideas.
There was also a lot of unnecessary repetition, reminding me over and over again of my old grandfather, who is like Mehta- also fond of telling us the same thing, repeatedly.

This book is a representation of a Mumbai/Bombay that an outsider will never see or experience. I can’t make up my mind if this is a collection of stories for a bollywood movie or leftovers from a script he was writing. Personally, I always knew this “other world” existed. I have heard it discussed at dinner parties and over lunch hours. But that’s just it, unless someone in Bombay spends a considerable amount of time in some capacity to “bump” into the people who star in Maximum City, this book is as relevant as fiction.

If you want to know what Karthik REALLY thinks, he’s got more over at UberDesi.

As for me, I’m lovingly getting ready to re-read (for the fourth time!) A Suitable Boy, since that’s the tome we are doing next. ASB is what I should have started with, since the posts wouldn’t have been such a challenge for me to pull out of ye olde rondure…well, that and though many of you may not be aware of it, it was the inspiration for a Sepia book club in the first place. But we’ll get suitable later– now, I want to know what I missed out on, by NOT doing my homework (that is so after-school special, y’all).

69 thoughts on “Maximum Tardiness”

  1. I think Mehta’s take on Bombay is just as valid as anyone’s. The fact that he’s packaged it for the western reader (I thought the title was a dead giveaway as to the content of the book) is no real bad thing- the writing is crisp and descriptive. I’m a Bombayite by birth and have lived there on and off my entire life. I can say with certainty that he might not have ventured deep into the city’s seediness but your average South Bombay joe will be unable to discuss topics featuring the lives of bar girls, the underworld, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s incredible ego or, for that matter, a bunch of violent political activist with any conviction whatsoever.

    To be perfectly honest, as far as I can see, he’s done a pretty decent job of giving his own “masalafied” perspective on Bombay and what’s encouraging is how resonant it is with Vikram Chandra’s view of the city in Sacred Games, which I felt was an excellent representation (although not as deep). I read people comparing this to Shantaram’s depiction of Bombay- I’m sure Roberts is very honest with his portrayal but most of it seems like a poorly written and romanticised nostalgia trip (ok so I didn’t like the book…). All in all, I don’t think he’s sold Bombay short despite his lack of depth and it’s a good read- thumbs up methinks.

  3. Mahesh for fish in Fort.

    Don’t forget Trishna Why not Kandeel and Samovar?

    I think we did this a few threads ago ( places to eat in Mumbai)

  5. Don’t forget Trishna

    i went to trishna the last time i was in bombay – the fish koliwada was ridiculous…are there veg forms of it – e.g. with paneer or gobhi (like they do for manchurian)?

  6. Mahesh has a branch now in Juhu, there is an equally good place for seafood called excellency near Ballard Estate and Gajali in Vile Parle and Andheri E is decent as well.

  9. I hate you all. I want pani puri, bandi-on-the-side-of-the-road-style SO BADLY now. Who cares if it will strain my weakling americanized immune system, it’s worth it!

    p.s. I don’t care what the ‘no.1 street food in this city’ is according to anyone, it’s always pani puri for me, wherever I go.

  10. Incidentally, ‘Black Friday’ (the book as well as the film) has the portrayal of the real life Rakesh Maria, whose semi-fictionalized account was written in Maximum City.

    I didn’t find the overly long bar girl as disturbing as the section on jain munis. His description of the smell accompanying the jain monks (who did not bathe nor brush their teeth, their ablutions and stuff disturbed me no end. Seriously.

  11. ooops sorry SM Intern, didn’t realize that I was veering so off-track right after your reminder!

  12. ooops sorry SM Intern, didn’t realize that I was veering so off-track right after your reminder!

    I’ll allow it, if only because the most consistent reaction I’ve encountered from those who trudged through the book was, “Damnit, now I want Pav Bhaji!” 😉

  14. To Mischina What is an ex-Jain? Thought Jain was like being Jewish, non observant maybe but not ex.

  16. As there any similar books on Madras?

    I’m Tamil myself and up till now have only heard of north Indian authors. But I did a quick Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com search and apparently there are quite a few books about Chennai. I don’t know which ones are worth reading. Anyone read this stuff? If so please tell which books are the best?

  18. To Mischina What is an ex-Jain? Thought Jain was like being Jewish, non observant maybe but not ex.

    My spouse is ex-jain because not only did he stop following Jain beliefs and rituals, he actually switched to another religious philosophy.

  19. As with some other peoples comments, i’m also not a literary genius but i enjoyed the book on the whole. I didn’t feel it jumped around too much and I especially found the underworld/Bal Thakeray involment with the bombings etc all fascinating.