Delhi

by Khushwant Singh

"I return to Delhi as I return to my mistress Bhagmati when I have had my fill of whoring in foreign lands."

Thus begins Khushwant Singh's vast, erotic, irrelevant magnum opus on the city of Delhi. The principal narrator of the saga, which extends over six hundred years, is a bawdy, ageing reprobate who loves Delhi as much as he does the hijra whore Bhagmati - half man, half woman with sexual inventiveness and energy of both the sexes. Travelling through time, space and history to 'discover' his beloved city, the narrator meets a myriad of people-poets and princes, saints and sultans, temptresses and traitors, emperors and eunuchs - who have shaped and endowed Delhi with its very special mystique And as we accompany the narrator on his epic journey we find the city of emperors transformed and immortalized in our minds for ever.

Genres: Fiction, India, Historical Fiction, Indian Literature, Historical, Literature, Cities

391 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Khushwant Singh, (Punjabi: ਖ਼ੁਸ਼ਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ, Hindi: खुशवंत सिंह) born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali, Undivided India, (now a part of Pakistan), was a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, was among the most widely-read columns in the country.

An important post-colonial novelist writing in English, Singh is best known for his trenchant secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.

Reviews

[Tenzin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The preface declares the injecting of a lot of seminal fluid into the book - guaranteeing you the dirty old man (his sobriquet) experience, so what's not to like? Through it you witness the 600 years of history that has shaped this city - covering Mughals, War of 1857, 1984 Sikh pogrom, Untouchables, Timurids, Hazrat Nizamuddin and more, some squalid, some divine. His candid, sentimental and unapologetic outpourings reach orgasmic heights in the chapters devoted to the uncouth, rude, pock-marked, common sex worker and transvestite Bhagmati - an allegory to his love for Delhi which withstands his occasional whoring of foreign shores. Delhi is a lot like Bhagmati, she has been with many men, devotedly loved those who loved her, yet, she has the ability to spit them out like bloody betel juice when the urge overtakes her. And she is ugly, like Bhagmati - her manners boorish, her speech cluttered with abuse, her appearance that of a sly blood-sucking vermin. But if you love her wholeheartedly, without reservation, if you look past the boorishness into the domes of the ancient city, the complete heart of it and all that candourish jazz - suddenly the skies are blue, the earth lush with the smell of fresh rain, the air humming with the music from dargahs, the heart swimming in light fancy and abruptly Bhagmati ceases to be a squalid eunuch, she is a genteel goddess, a woman with unrestrained desires but most importantly - she desires you. Khushwant Singh confesses that he makes both Bhagmati and Delhi sound very mysterious, for he too is confused by this love-hate relationship, but he lives with it, and swimmingly too. It is a simple formula he writes, "...use your heart not your head, your emotion not your reason."

[Khush · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delhi is a wonderful book. Right at the start, the narrative voice tells us that Delhi is a vulgar, loud, dangerous and damaged city, but once one knows Delhi intimately it reveals its charms, its seductions. Every stone of this city tells a story. The city is an archeologist's delight because it has so much to offer. Delhi has repeatedly been destroyed and rebuilt throughout its recorded history.

In this book, the body of Delhi is compared with the body of a 'Hijra' (transgender) named 'Bhagmati.' Just like the city of Delhi, Bhagamati is loud and unattractive. But once one knows her, her strange smell, her body's queerness, the bitter-sweet taste of her 'paan' soaked mouth, one is trapped forever. One becomes addicted to her. The narrator, after having lived abroad, comes back to live in his native city, Delhi. He embraces the city with all its filth, its hidden charms. Being upper-middle class, the narrator can flirt with women; he prefers a 'Hijra.' He is bewitched by her.

Their regular meetings with each other fulfill their life in different ways. We get to know of contemporary Delhi and its medieval history in enchanting prose. After almost every second chapter, the readers find themselves in Delhi of the 1980s. In between, we get a glimpse of Delhi's past, its prominent rulers, its fall and rise.

Anybody who is interested in Delhi's history will find this book engrossing. Although the book was first published almost three decades ago, there is a lot in it that still holds true for Delhi.

[dely · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was annoyed from the first to the last page. The premise was very interesting: Delhi's history from the Mughal Empire (1526) to the murder of Indira Gandhi (1984). Chapters alternate from present time (in which we read above all about useless sex scenes among the main character and a hijra prostitute) to ancient time where the past revives thanks to the first-person narration of different characters.
I couldn't understand which was the fictional part and which were real historical events, it was too confusing. I also couldn't understand how much of Singh's personal opinions have been added to the story. Perhaps people who know every single event of the Mughal Empire will enjoy much more this book; I also didn't learn something new about Indian history because the whole story was too confusing and there were many useless parts like the chapters dedicated to present time. It seems to me that the author gave too much importance to sex scenes and the bloody massacres among Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, talking about them in a too detailed way. It was as if these parts were more important than the historical events. After a while I had a feeling of mental discomfort reading about all this gory killing because it seemed that all these people were taking pleasure in killing. It was as if the author disliked all Indians (regardless of their religion) and depicted them as bloody killers.
I have read a few historical fiction and I usually like them but in my opinion Singh failed and it's a pity because I have read and liked Train to Pakistan. It could have been much better if the reader would have been able to discern among real historical events and fictional parts and if we could understand which parts were the author's personal opinions; but perhaps it's only my fault because I don't know a lot about the Mughal Empire.


Mi sono annoiata dalla prima all'ultima pagina. La premessa sembrava molto interessante: la storia di Delhi dall'Impero Moghul (ca. 1500) fino all'uccisione di Indira Gandhi (1984). Si alternano capitoli dedicati al presente (in cui si parla solo di sesso tra il personaggio principale e una prostituta ermafrodita) a capitoli in cui si fa rinascere il passato attraverso la narrazione in prima persona di diversi personaggi. Non si capisce cosa di ciò che viene raccontato appartiene alla realtà storica e quali parti sono solo finzione o considerazioni personali dello scrittore. Forse chi conosce per filo e per segno tutti gli imperatori Moghul e la storia del loro impero sarà capace di apprezzare questo tomo di quasi 500 pagine. Non mi è rimasto assolutamente nulla di questo libro tranne una sensazione di noia e di fastidio dovuta non solo al fatto che non si riesce a discernere tra realtà e finzione, ma anche perché lo scrittore sembra dare più importanza ai sanguinosi massacri tra musulmani, indù e sikh descrivendoli minuziosamente piuttosto che agli eventi storici rilevanti.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever I read Indian history there's one thing that's a constant, Delhi getting attacked and rebuilt and it has happened so many times that one would think the city should not even be there but what do you know, it's still there even after all the constant attacks for the last thousand years or so it has stayed put.

This is the story of the city Delhi which is now known as to most, New Delhi. Delhi is not a very likeable city and I agree with that because when I used to go there as a kid with my family for weddings or to the airport or to visit our relatives, I used to hate there. It was stinky, too crowded and so much was always happening for my small self to keep up with. But as we kept visiting it year after year (although I haven't been there for few years now), the city grew on me and I didn't hate it as much as I had as a kid.

That's what this story is all about that once you get to know the city, you come to find it's charms and allure and even end up liking it. Khushwant Singh's writing is as brilliant as always.

4 stars

[R · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so horrendously bad that I had forgotten all about having read this book. I guess my brain was trying to subconsciously suppress the memory of it. However, my brain, being the way it is, just as well randomly popped this book up at me on a Monday evening, because that is the sort of thing my brain likes to do.

NOTHING about the book you might initially read, see or hear about would remotely suggest the level of bad-ness this book entails. I read this on a recommendation of a friend's, and since then I have been more than wary with recommendations, especially in instances where they involve vapid prose detailing badly written sex scenes as gimmicks.

As for the 'historical fiction' angle, forget about it. You'd be better off with 'Let's Learn Numbers!' or 'My First Book of Alphabet' to get better enlightenment instead.

[Faroukh Naseem · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of my favorite cities, Delhi. One of my least liked books of all time, Delhi.
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#theguywiththebookreview rants about Delhi by Khushwant Singh
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With anecdotes and random banter collected over 25 years, Khushwant Singh wrote Delhi and although his writing brilliance shines in bits and pieces, it crumbles under the weight of one of the most iconic (debatable) cities of Asia.
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If it’s taken someone such a long time to gather information and write a book, you would expect things to be well researched and edited to present the best version of it. One thing that put me off is how unbalanced the two narratives are, the ‘present’ and the historical past. The other thing that really ended up souring my mood is how he writes about something very basic about the Muslim prayer and it’s absolutely wrong, it’s something that doesn’t even require research, literally ask any Muslim. Someone who doesn’t even pray will tell you how hilariously incorrect it is.
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Delhi is infamous for its lewd language and crass banter and I guess it makes sense having a similar feel to a book about Delhi but it put me off.
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The idea of the book is brilliant but somehow I feel like it could have been structured better. I do have a problem when one chapter is 5 pages and the next goes for 30. It’s probably a preference but one that I subconsciously overlook if the book is good. Delhi, isn’t that.
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Owing to my annoyance at how such a simple thing as prayer is portrayed wrong, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking how ill researched the rest of the book that deals with historical figures (Rulers and poets) must be.
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I guess this is a case of fan fiction gone wild.
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I’m looking forward to reading Train To Pakistan by Khushwant Singh. If that doesn’t go well, I’ll stick to reading his joke books (which are amazing, btw!)

[Aastha Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me up for several nights. I never fell asleep while reading the book but the exhaustion I felt after reading about the bloody massacres that have dotted the pages of Indian history was tremendous. This is an extremely powerful book. From the invasion of Taimur to the Anti-Sikh riots, to the personal accounts of the journey of the narrator which is interspersed in the book to provide respite from the heavy heat one feels after reading about the mostly bloody and accursed history of Delhi- nothing could have been written better. Every Indian must read the book to understand the frivolity of anger and passion roused by religion, hedonism and dogmatism. Khushwant Singh tells the story of Delhi through 600 years through the eyes of people who witnessed it taking shape, the raconteurs being people of consequence and sometimes just ordinary citizens. The connection he generates between the present and the past is nuanced and substantial; no wonder it took the author 25 years to write it. I was amused and tickled by the use of phrases like "haw haw Oxbridge" and "my morbid obsession with death" and loved most of the poetry in the accounts of history. I am glad I read the book after I had stayed in Delhi for 6 months. It multiplied my understanding and pleasure by several times.

[Rajeev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Delhi: History in the Garb of Erotica.


History in the garb of Erotica (or is it the other way round?): Would be an apt epithet for Delhi: A Novel by Khushwant Singh.



Synopsis: A lecherous historian-cum-writer is in a bad phase of his career that he takes a part-time job as a tourist guide in Delhi. As a guide he ensures a perennial supply of foreign memsahibs for himself with whom he has innumerable flings. He takes these tourists and his hijda mistress around Delhi for sightseeing thus visiting various places of historical significance. This narrative is interposed, in alternate chapters, with memoirs of personalities from the past – which includes the likes of Timur, Nadir Shah, Aurangzeb, A devotee of the Sufi saint Nizamudeen Auliya, A British era builder, A Gandhi-hater to name a few.



The whole book is laced with a thick veneer of sarcasm which makes it difficult to make out how much of it are genuine statements and how much of it are Deliberate 'Doosras'. Through the memoirs of the bad guys of history he has gone so far as to condone (sarcastically or not is moot) their acts - Aurungzeb justifying his fanaticism and hatred toward Dhara Shikoh, Nadir Shah justifying massacres that he brought upon Delhi and through the words of a builder he claims the period of British rule in India her golden period and quite trenchantly remarks that Indians have done more harm to India than the British. He also goes ahead and states that had it been Germans, French or Russians, Gandhis and Nehrus would have been sent to gallows, for long.



The last but one chapter takes Gandhi-giri head on! He minces no words when he calls Gandhi a hypocrite (As per an anti-Gandhi character in the book, Gandhi while fasting has a continuous supply of orange juice and he breaks his fast with a glass of orange juice), or when he indicts RSS for propagating hatred against Musalmmans and Christians in the inchoate days of independence. He is even indifferent when he implicitly slams his own community, Sikhs, for teaming up with the British during 1857 mutinies,which apparently led to the quashing of the mutiny in Delhi.



Towards the end of the book - circa 1984 - it takes us through the Operation Bluestar Blunder of Indira Gandhi, her assassination on account of that and then the dire repercussions that followed. That leaves the book with an implicit statement of how India is anarchy-prone, how vicious is communalism and religious fanaticism, and how baneful is political bigotry - These factors leave the writer pensive and disturbed in the end.



What makes the book unique, according to me, is that it positions itself against the popular version of history. And it has to be given to the Old Man for his audacity in coming up with a book which speaks about the misfortunes inflicted upon Delhi, throughout various phases in history, not from the victim's but from the perpetrators' perspectives (and to the level of justifying them – watch out for sarcasms).



One big negative of the book, which I presume could have led to it being branded as dirty, is its erotic content. Not a single chapter passes by without an obnoxious dosage of carnal indulgences of its characters. However, the ‘Dirty Old Man’ can be excused for this as, probably, he was trying to sell history in the garb of erotica.





Rajeev A. Nair

[Prashanth Bhat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delhi - Kushwanth Singh.

ದೆಹಲಿಯ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಇತರ‌ ಇತಿಹಾಸದ ಹಾಗೆ ಡ್ರೈ ವಿಷಯ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಅದನ್ನು ಓದತೊಡಗಿದರೆ ಪುಟ ಪುಟದಲ್ಲೂ ನಿಮಗೆ ರೋಚಕ ಅನಿಸಬಹುದಾದ ವಿಚಿತ್ರ ಅನಿಸಬಹುದಾದ ಕತೆಗಳು ದೊರೆಯುತ್ತವೆ. ಅಂದಿನಿಂದ ಇಂದಿನವರೆಗೆ ದೆಹಲಿ ಒಂಥರಾ ಪೆಟ್ಟು ತಾಗಿ ತಾಗೀ ಪೆಡಸುಗೊಂಡ ಚರ್ಮದ ಹಾಗೆ.
ಖುಷವಂತ್ ಸಿಂಗ್ ತೀರಿಕೊಂಡಾಗ ಇದನ್ನು ಓದಿದ್ದೆ. ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಏನೋ ಕಾರ್ಯನಿಮಿತ್ತ ದೆಹಲಿಯ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಓದುವ ಕೆಲಸ ಬಂತು. ಅದಾದ ಬಳಿಕ ಮತ್ತೊಮ್ಮೆ ದಿಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾದಂಬರಿ ಓದುವ ಮನಸಾಯಿತು . ಗೆಳೆಯ ಶಶಿ ಕಿರಣ್ ಕಳಿಸಿದ ಹಾರ್ಡ್ ಕಾಪಿ ಇತ್ತಲ್ಲ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಓದತೊಡಗಿದೆ. ಖುಷವಂತ್ ಸಿಂಗ್ ಪರಿಚಯ ರವಿ ಬೆಳಗೆರೆ ಅನುವಾದದ 'ಕಂಪೆನಿ‌ ಆಫ್ ವಿಮೆನ್' ಎಂಬ ಅಪ್ಪಟ ಪೋಲಿ ಪುಸ್ತಕದಲ್ಲಾದರೂ , ಆಮೇಲೆ 'ಟ್ರೈನ್ ಟು ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನ್' ಎಂಬ ಕಾದಂಬರಿ ಅವರ ಪಾಂಡಿತ್ಯದ ಪರಿಚಯ ಮಾಡಿಸಿಕೊಟ್ಟಿತು. ಆದರೆ ಅವರ ಭಾಷೆ ನನಗೆ ಡ್ರೈ ಅನಿಸಿತ್ತು.
ಈ ದಿಲ್ಲಿಯ ಸಂಕ್ಷೇಪ ಅನುವಾದ ರವಿ ಬೆಳಗೆರೆ ‌ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರೂ ಅದನ್ನು ಓದುವ ಅವಕಾಶವಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ.
ಈ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಬಗೆಯ ನಿರೂಪಣೆಯಿದೆ. ಒಂದು ನಿರೂಪಕನ ಭಾಗಮತಿ ಎಂಬ ಹಿಜಡಾ ಜೊತೆಗಿನ ಸಂಬಂಧ. ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ದಿಲ್ಲಿಯ ಇತಿಹಾಸ.
ಅವನು ದೆಹಲಿಯ ಈ ಹಿಜಡಾಗೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿ ಬರೆಯುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಕ್ರೂರವಾದದ್ದೇ! ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಮುಸ್ಲಿಂ ದಾಳಿಕೋರರು ದಾಳಿ ಪಡೆದ ಕಡೆ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ರಕ್ತಸಿಕ್ತವೇ. ಜನಗಳ ನರಮೇಧ,ಕೋಟೆ ಕೊತ್ತಲಗಳ ನಾಶ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಯ ನಾಶ ಎಲ್ಲ ಜಗತ್ತು ಕಂಡದ್ದೇ.
ಆದರೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಖುಷವಂತ್ ಮೃದುವಾಗುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮದಿರೆ ,ಮಾನಿನಿಯ ಕವಿ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಇತಿಹಾಸ ಹೇಳಲ್ಪಡುತ್ತದೆ.
ಖುಷವಂತ್ ಎರಡು ವಿಚಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಇಷ್ಟವಾಗುವುದು.
ಒಂದು ಇತಿಹಾಸದ ವಿವರಣೆ.
ಎರಡು ಪೋಲಿತನ.

ದಿಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು‌ ಟ್ರೈನ್ ಟು ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನ್ ಓದಿ.
ಎಷ್ಟೇ ಮೃದುವಾಗಿ ಬರೆದರೂ ಕೆಲವು ಸತ್ಯಗಳ ಮರೆಮಾಚಲಾಗದು ಅಲ್ಲವೇ?

ಅಂದ ಹಾಗೆ ಈ ಕಾದಂಬರಿ ಮುಗಿಸಿದ ಬಳಿಕ ಉನ್ನಿಕೃಷ್ಣನ್ ಅವರ ಮಲಯಾಳಂ ಕಾದಂಬರಿ ' ದೃಕ್ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿಗಳ್' ಅನುವಾದ ' ಇಂದಿರಾ ಹತ್ಯೆಯ ಬಳಿಕ ' (ಭಾಷಾಭಾರತಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಣೆ) ಓದಿ.
ದಿಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯ ಅಂತ್ಯ ಆ ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯ ಆರಂಭ.‌..

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told primarily by a sixty-year-old (unnamed) narrator, Delhi: A Novel begins with the narrator returning home to Delhi from a stint abroad, in time to catch up with his transgender prostitute lover Bhagmati. In between making love to Bhagmati and seducing every other woman he sets eyes on, the narrator also begins to talk about—sometimes to Bhagmati, sometimes to the other women—the history of Delhi. From Indraprastha, through to the Tomars; from the days of Balban to the Mughals. The narrators change as time passes. Now it’s a kayastha named Mussadi Lal, in Balban’s reign; now it’s Mir Taqi ‘Mir’. There’s Taimur, Nadir Shah, Bahadur Shah Zafar: each of them talking about his days, his experience with Delhi, his feelings.

I was at first a bit annoyed with the near-obsession with sex that seemed to predominate in the starting chapters, and to some extent till well into the book. Whether it was the main narrator or one of the secondary narrators (who, 1857 onwards, actually take centre stage), they seemed to have sex on their minds.

Then, with the onset of 1857 and the then-onwards almost unremitting turbulence, that focus on sex shifts, drastically. It’s still there, but its tone has changed. There’s the rape, the sexual violence perpetrated as a result of the revolt and its aftermath. There are Bahadur Shah and his queen, Zeenat Mahal, desperately turning to each other for some form of comfort, some echo of what had once been. Sex for the sake of pleasure has gone; it now takes either more vicious, or more poignant, forms.

I’ll admit that in the initial chapters of this book I was looking for good things to say about it. The descriptions of Delhi, its flora and fauna, were superb, of course, but that was all I liked. But then, once Singh went deep into the past—especially starting 1857—I remembered why (having read Train to Pakistan many years ago) I liked Singh’s writing so much. His characters are deeply nuanced, the dilemmas they find themselves in so relatable, their reactions so very human. Also, I was impressed by the way his characters’ voices are so distinctive, so different. In the 1857 section, for example, there are three narrators: Bahadur Shah; an Anglo-Indian woman named Ayesha Aldwell; and a Sikh soldier for the British named Nihal Singh—and all three ‘speak’ so differently, they can be recognized just by their words.

Highly recommended, not just as an emotional (yet accurate) narrative of Delhi’s history, but also as a story about people, about the way we think and behave, what moves us, what evil we harbour and what good.

[Bigsna · Rating 1 out of 5]

60% read... And no more.
On a second reluctant attempt, resuming this book is feeling like a punishment. And while I hate to abandon something I've read more than half way through, this one is just not worth wasting more time on.
I tried and tried, but simply could not bring myself to enjoy Khushwant Singh's crass narrative of the lustful historical episodes of Delhi, interspersed with his own carnal escapades. I'm calling it.

[Yoshita Sood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't read the last 10 pages even after forcing myself to read the last quarter of the book. The premise was extremely interesting but unfortunately this was the most obnoxious fiction I've read in a while. The author unnecessarily glorifies violence and the last few chapters bored me to death. The female characters were described solely on the basis of their bosom size and their involvement in the plot was just for sex. And the sex, oh lord. So unnecessary and off-putting. A bit sad I wasted my money on this yet grateful for the realisation never to pick a Khuswant Singh book again.

[Abhïshék Ghosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An irreverent but uncanny first-person view to a city that has been ravaged, stripped of its defining character but still alluring enough to make you never want to leave it. Khushwant Singh's ~400 page tome on Delhi is seen through his lascivious relationship with his 'hijda whore', Bhagmati. Flitting between a first-person account of the Dilli of the 1990s and first-person accounts of historical characters such as the Timur the Lame, Aurangzeb, Nadir Shah, Meer Taqi Meer (who, I was surprised to know, lived out his last years in Lucknow), amongst several others. What makes this a unique read on Delhi, one that really distinguishes it from several other historical-travel anecdotes, is its breadth in terms of the timespan: from the early days of the Delhi Sultanate (in 1265, under Sultan Ghiasuddin Balban) to the last embers of the Emergency, Operation Bluestar and assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. What I enjoyed the most is that this is a book that reads like an autobiography of historical figures with the accuracy that only a sagacious historian can bring forth. The pace, the way the stories mesh into each other, and the brevity of the anecdotes just made this one quite un-putdownable for me!

[Meenakshi Kapoor · Rating 3 out of 5]

If one can tolerate the excessively elaborate accounts of the protagonist's sexual encounters, the novel is a good read to understand Indian history in a different perspective. Even if one is not familiar with the Indian History, the novel still appeals due to its accurate detailing of the location and structure of the monuments of Delhi. (No, the novel doesn't end at Red Fort and Qutub Minar). The way KS describes the by lanes of Chandni Chowk during the reign of shah jahan, or Paharganj when Aurangzeb took over or the area around Hazarat Nizamuddin in the times of Ghiasuddin Balban or the Connaught Circus of the early 90's gets etched on one' mind.

One characteristic feature of KS's writing (other than the explicitly described female body forms) is his style of making the natural surrounds- weather, trees, birds and bees an integral part of the main plot, is reflected here too. If nothing else, the novel has inspired me to explore Delhi beyond the regular 'Delhi Darshan' sights and go for nature walks in and around!

[Poonam Garvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

After I finished TRAIN TO PAKISTAN I never thought that I would read any other book by khushwant Singh( not that i did not like it ... it was fine but i lost my interest in the writer somehow). I am glad that i picked this one up. A good read after all and the way the writer traces the history with emperors, poets and soldiers narrating their tales from their own perspective. People usually say that histories are written by rulers and the vanquished are always presented in a demeaning light, but here the writer gives everyone a chance to speak up. Where on one hand nadir shah defends himself by justifying the massacre that he committed on the soil of delhi then on the other side we have meer Taqi meer who criticizes nadir shah for his brutal ways. Khuswant Singh writes not as a Sikh but as an Indian... more like a delihite. There were many fornication scenes though but then the writer himself says that he is not known for propriety then who the hell are we to raise questions.

[Gorab · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to narrate History interestingly? By using autobiographical narration style, and by injecting alternate chapters of weirdness! I started loathing this book till around 4 chapters. After each historical episode(total 10), the time shifts to modern era with the protagonist detailing his relationship with Bhagmati, an eunuch transvestite prostitute! And in between a dedicated chapter on different types of farts! Ugggh!!
But then I Was mesmerised by the alternate epic story telling of Mughals, Sultans, poets and courtesans spanning 700 years of Delhi starting from 1265AD!
Deserves no less than 5 stars just for the last three chapters (building up of New Delhi, assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi). Although controversial but very powerful indeed.
Could have enjoyed better if my history knowledge wasn't so poor! Would read some parts again after learning the facts.

[Asha Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I wanted to read a book on Indian History, someone had recommended this book. But I am sure there are better books on the subject than this. Because, of history, I am not sure. But Sex and Death you will get in plenty in Khushwant Singh’s ‘Delhi: A Novel’. In fact, you get a much better account of what transpired in Delhi and transformed it to its current condition, in William Dalrymple’s ‘Kohinoor’.

The Plot:

Delhi and Bhagmati; the transsexual whore, form the core of this book. The author expounds the 600 year-old history of Delhi right from the era of Mughals to the assassination of Indira Gandhi in late nineties, through the eyes of a historian looking for a stable occupation, and engaged as a travel-guide for the time-being.

The review:

Was it history interspersed with numerous episodes of cringy sex or numerous episodes of cringy sex interspersed with history? And a whole chapter on farts? That’s nth degree gross! But then one cannot expect any less of Mr Singh who is as blatant as the central character of this book, Bhagmati.

Here, I found this downright amusing,

“O Sage ! the stomach is the prison house of wind, The sagacious contain it not in captivity, If wind torment thy belly, release it, fart; For the wind in the stomach is like a stone on the heart.”

There is obvious back and forth, since the protagonist keeps flitting between periods in history and his rather dull sexcapades, and more than once you are lost, left with loose threads of dreary narrations.

The longueurs on Indian History killed it for me especially because I could not distinguish if the writer’s imagination had meddled with the actual facts. Of course, there’s Singh’s humor and intellectual albeit sassy style, but other than that there isn’t much.

Now, that is as far as the content goes. The prose does not lose out on the richness of his style and subtle satire, we love him for. The grandeur of his words and the rare elegance of imagery do not fail in painting a picture of Delhi in your mind such as the author has in his heart.

These excerpts for instance, I felt, were magnificently written,

Dilli began to change. Every day a new building! When the work was finished we had nine days of tamasha. Princes showered silver coins on the crowds. The badshah rode through the city on his biggest elephant and scattered gold coins by the palmful. His courtiers said, ‘We won’t call “Dilli” “Dilli” any more. We will rename it Shahjahanabad.’ But Dilli is Dilli and no king or nobleman can give it another name.””

and this…

“Nature provides that a man who slaves all day should spend the hours of the night in a palace full of houris whereas a king who wields the sceptre by day should have his sleep disturbed by nightmares of rebellion and assassination.”

and oh, how our society still has roots in this,

“The Muslims had become masters of Hindustan. They were quite willing to let us Hindus live our lives as we wanted to provided we recognized them as our rulers. But the Hindus were full of foolish pride. ‘This is our country!’ they said. ‘We will drive out these cow-killers and destroyers of our temples.’ They were especially contemptuous towards Hindus who had embraced Islam and treated them worse than untouchables.”

Well, all I have to say is, Khushwant Singh, who blew me with his ‘Train to Pakistan‘ has made a rather unusual attempt at a metaphorical portrayal of Delhi; why he loves and loathes the most-exploited yet trivialized city of the world, which despite its queer brilliance wasn’t enough to rouse this reader.

If you happen to read ‘Delhi: A Novel’ or have already read it, do share your thoughts below.

~~~~~

Asha Seth

[gurpreet kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The world is the body and Delhi its life', said Asadullah Khan Ghalib. Delhi is still as intriguing as ever, so old and yet so new, holding within its folds history, politics, love, violence, religion, destruction and countless other emotions and stories. 'The city of dginns', by William Dalrimple helped stimulate my interest in this 'life of the world' and Khushwant Singh's ' Delhi' seemed to be an apt choice.
I guess I was holding the wrong book for the wrong reasons.... It is only a birds- eye view and a rather myopic bird's eye view of the ancient history of the city ..... hasty, superficial and general.
The chapters on Bhagmati are absolutely redundant and inessential..... Imagine a chapter on 'farts'.... it is not even funny.
I thought I could easily ignore the obnoxious stuff in Khushwant Singh's books and still like them for language, frankness, humour and content. This one does have history but it is coated with a lot of his own imagination and injected with a lot of seminal fluid (as he calls it). One is often left wondering .... Did this really happen?!! ... But then one starts pondering on the title - 'Delhi: A Novel'... I guess it was meant to be like this.
The author has been magnanimous and has tried to justify the actions of cruel tyrants and invaders who plundered, looted and killed just to assert their power and supremacy, by looking at history from their perspective.
It took him twenty- five years to piece it together and has been written with an objective of getting people to know Delhi and love it, I think William Dalrymple achieved the objective better.
Do give him a chance, you may find something that i missed.

[Farrukh Pitafi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some day I will write a similar book about my beloved city. I promise. Don't ask which city. But I will ;)

[মাহাদী হাসান রাতুল · Rating 5 out of 5]

Primarily, a story of Delhi from medieval to present times, by showing how through the ages it has been exploited, built, destroyed and rebuilt to reach its present state which is brought before us through the narrator’s and Bhagmati’s conversation. Their uninhibited sexual encounters also help bring the geography and culture of the place alive. Here Bhagmati and Delhi have been projected in a parallel way. Singh’s rendering of the political history of Delhi and of the counterpart Bhagmati beautifully juxtaposes the theme of the novel. (Collected)

[Akshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The world is the body and Delhi its life.”

With these words of Mirza Ghalib as its epigraph begins this colossal work on the city of Delhi spanning nearly six centuries from the reign of Ghiyas Ud Din Balban to the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the anti Sikh riots of 1984. Khushwant Singh brings the story of Delhi to life by alternating between autobiographical accounts of several characters from different eras of the history of the city and his accounts of his relationship between his hermaphrodite mistress, Bhagmati. The book draws a parallel between the half-man, half-woman Bhagmati and the city of Delhi and they both are described as the “favourite mistresses” of the author.

The Bhagmati analogy is interesting at many levels. Neither Bhagmati, nor Delhi is described as being beautiful; in fact both have become ugly because people have misused them. However, “it is only to their lovers . . . that they reveal their true selves.” Similarly, as its history shows, Delhi can spit out people with the same ugliness with
which Bhagmati spits her betel juice and to those who love it in spite of its ugliness, the “pockmarks on her face”, her “bawdy speech” and “uneven teeth”, this city reveals a fragrant magic and melodious tunes in its breezes, amazing stories in every corner and fascinating experiences. Bhagmati‟s declaration that she is not just Hindu or Muslim but also a Sikh underlies the multiple religious identities of Delhi. Unfortunately, Delhi has another similarity with Bhagmati – while they both “are lots of fun”, they also “are sterile”.

Like the city of Delhi, this book generates a mélange of emotions in the reader. Just like a traveler coming to Delhi is initially repelled by the garbage, the chockablock roads and the noise of the city, the reader is thrown back by the raw eroticism and crude description of the first few pages of the book. However, just as the city eventually grows on the traveler and s/he begins to get captivated by its charms and develops an indifference to these surface level problems, the reader also gets accustomed to the book and begins to appreciate its beauty in spite of the repulsive overdose of lust and eroticism.

The highlight of the book is its literary treatment. The choice of language in congruence to the different narrators is its greatest accomplishment. It acquires a roadside character when Bhagmati is around and takes on a delicious poetic delight when the narrator is an Aurangzeb or Bahadur Shah. The English becomes polished when Alice Aldwell is talking and looks broken and aspirant when Nihal Singh speaks. The author has not missed out the poetic culture that prevailed in the medieval Delhi and has thrown in many wonderful couplets and rhymes every now and then which escalate the literary value of the book. As such, the book not only describes, but manages to create an ambience of Delhi.

If taken with a sizeable pinch of salt, overall it makes a wonderful reading on the evolution of the city of Delhi.

[Addled head · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an intriguing read. It's a controversial read. Two ppl can't read it and be left with the same set of emotions for it.

So, here is what i understand from this novel. Through this book, the author has tried to express his own feelings, his own thoughts about various incidents that took place in Delhi, going back by at least 500 years or more. This entire novel is written in the form of small autobiographies narrated by diff ppl involved with the history of Delhi like Aurangazeb, Nadir Shah etc. Am not so well aware of the Mughal history, so not sure where to draw line between fact and fiction. I also got a good insight into the origins of Sikhism in India, though, again, am not sure how much of that is fact. Coming back to the narration style, the story goes back and forth between the past and the present. The present is narrated by a person (Sikh, if u r desperate to know the religion), who rambles off mostly about sex, in particular with his hijra girl-friend Bhagmati. As the story goes forth we understand the author has nothing to add to the 'present' story, so we find more n more pages being narrated by historical characters. Most surprising of them all is the one by Aurangazeb, it gives one a totally different perspective of how he could have well been the most mis-understood emperor of India/Hindustan. As the past slowly starts converging with the present, the religious conflicts seem inevitable...hindus vs muslims, muslims vs sikhs, sikhs vs hindus, thus covering all possible permutations. Almost everybody rapes everybody, everybody kills everybody, the story ends at the point where Sikhs are being massacred by the Hindus in retaliation to Indira Gandhi's murder.

All through the story, the only constant is "conflict", be it religious, be it for power, be it for kingdoms and in the end he shows the conflict still continues.

Though the author shows the negative side of this conflict very well, he couldn't show much of the 'irresistible' Delhi, as that's what he mentions all through the book.

So, why only 3 stars? It is a bold book, but not a good one at that! To me it looked like a collection of ramblings of ppl from diff backgrounds, of diff prejudices, might have as well been Khuswant Singh's own thoughts. But do i really care what his thoughts are? NO!

[Nitya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone fascinated by history of Delhi should read this. It took time for me to adapt to Khushwant Singh's raw descriptions of emotions, but his style grows on you. I recommend this book for the way it is structured - we see Delhi moving through time from perspectives of people living that history. You feel the bias of Aurangazeb in justifying his actions, understand the envy towards Khusrao, feel the pain of plundered population, the courage of independence fighters and the entitlement of Bahadur Shah Zaffer's rank and family name. It left me with a feeling that through time everyone has come and treated Delhi as their to spoil and lay claim over, however Delhi belongs to everyone and will not tamed by just one force.

I suggest reading this book in every corner of Delhi it describes. Sit in hauz khas fort and have a day out with the stories that make that monument.

[Sabil Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book i may not tell it is a axcellent one, But it stands out with its different kind of narration. How the present delhi is how the past was. I was always fascinated about the indian history especially about the mughal empire and sort of. He narrates the story from each persons perspective. We will get a good knowledge about indian history and it is really interesting to read because of khushwanth singhs narrational style. There were some part which described how he seduced womens and things like that which were really interesting ;-). A good read. :)

[Ratan Sadanandan O M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the historical accounts in the book to be really interesting; the accounts of POV characters like Timur, Aurangzeb, Bahadur Shah Zafar and other fictional citizens from various periods between 13th century and 20th century presents different views on the historical events.It presents the history of Delhi in a different light. The accounts are interlaced with couplets and poems.

The narrative by the author is a bit drab. Be warned about superfluous description of sex in almost every chapter.

[The Balaji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caution: only those who love Kushwant and history will appreciate this novel. This book is definitely one of the best among the books penned by K'singh. He's has put several hundred years history of Delhi by way of short stories in this book with a little pinch of sex (in fact a lot) and you cant help but feel that the narrator is none other than K'singh himself. Its been more than a year since i read this novel but still I cherish those days i spent reading this book. My all time favourite of K'singh's books.

[Zeeshan Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful read! Loved it.

[Sneha Pathak (reader_girl_reader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about Delhi. There were certain portions of it that i loved, others that i couldn't wait to finish. The novel oscillates between the present of the narrator (who resembles the writer) and the past which is narrated through various people of that era - some common and some not so common. So we start pur journey from the time of latter period of what was called the slave dynasty and end in the writer's present with the 1984 Delhi riots.

I liked the chapters narrated by the figures from the past, especially those that weren't narrated by the kings, emperors and conquerors. It shows Singh's talent and the scope of his wide research that he could write in so many voices and give such a detailed account of so many eras. He creates worlds that give us a glimpse of Delhi through the ages and the novel's 25 years of research and writing are reflected in this magnum opus.

What i didn't like were the sexual escapades that were so prevalent in the starting few chapters (of course, i knew it was Singh writing so i was prepared for something of the kind) but even more so the way women were seen as mere things to be conquered by the narrator. Then again, there was hardly any voice given to women in the entire novel. I wish there were atleast some chapters in the past narrated by women. Women, in the entire novel, like Delhi itself, are passive creatures that entice one conqueror after another and are used and left behind.

Also, it did become a bit too much till the end - the same blood bath every single time. And of course, this is no fault of the author! By the time it ended, i was depressed and perhaps this was the author's intention all along, because whatever else it is, Delhi is definitely not a happy novel. But then, history perhaps seldom is.

[Saifullah Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No matter a city can be rebuild and repopulated but no power on earth can put together a heart that has been shattered "- Meer Taqi

Loved the book.First person point of views of historical peopl were fascinating to read.I'm not sure if the writer was telling history through his point of view or the original sources. But I enjoyed it and helps me to know about Indian continental more than ever.Definitely going to read more of his books.

[Aravind · Rating 3 out of 5]

The city of Delhi has had a rich, albeit violent, history and Khushwant Singh recounts it with his trademark wit and bawdiness in the form of fiction. Narrated by an ageing historian broadly resembling the author himself, this novel has many interludes from various points in history, starting from the thirteenth century to the twentieth. These historical pieces are voiced by people of varying stature, from emperors to poets to common folk. Filled with unimaginable amount of violence, these episodes have been presented from unconventional points of view, leaving the reader to judge the right and the wrong of it all. What makes it an engaging read is the author's skill in adapting his prose to give a unique voice to each of his narrators befitting their station.
The only complaint I have about this otherwise fine book is about the profusion of sexual content and some cringe-worthy passages, which could easily have been edited out. But, Khushwant Singh is Khushwant Singh, and his novel is his, and I liked it for the most part.