Deepshikha Pathak

Delhi' by Khushwant Singh takes the reader through the rich history of Delhi, it gives glimpses of various historical attractions giving all the descriptions and stories related to them. In short it is a beautiful tale of even beautiful city knitted across centuries telling various true incidents and stories on a fictional setup in backdrop. Telling the tales of princes, princesses, sultans, poets, saint, eunuchs, common masses and various other entities author takes the reader on a roller coaster ride showing lust, power, love, betrayal and all the other elements which has shaped Delhi in its present mysterious, glamorous but charismatic state. I won't say it is the best book to start reading Khushwant Singh but I would say do read it and in fact one can't afford not to read it if u love Khushwant Singh writing or want to know a bit more about Delhi and its growth journey. This is a long book, which is generally very enjoyable. It's very well written, with wit, humor, sensuality and extensive historical knowledge. I tended to prefer the contemporary accounts of the narrator's adventures and his relationship with the hijra to some of the more detailed historical accounts, especially the protracted descriptions of battles. Some character voices work better than others; but they are all engrossing. The book provides a fascinating glimpse of what makes modern day Dheli such a wonderfully complex, multicultural place. Story of Delhi, couldn’t have been told in a better way. It has the ingredients of Khushwant Singh’s recipe of spicy writing. He has spiced it up with saucy stories. He is a master story teller & this book also proved this. In a story of history, he has the capability to keep you glued till last page. Very truthful narration of the City in a jubilant language as almost expected from Khushwant Singh ji. His most popular creation is Baghmati who has been a medium here to go ahead with any narration