People change; so do cities, for better or worse. Chandramohan Nair shares memories of the Madras he knew as a young man and reflects on the changes that he now sees in the city.
Living in a city is as much about searching for solitude as it is about navigating through loneliness. Deepthi Krishnamurthy addresses the unsettling nature of city life in her three poems about urban commute, restless insomnia and the claustrophobia of the ‘inside’.
A family of three moves to Bombay in the 1980s and reacts to their changed lives in the city. Vani’s story captures the thoughts of Geetha, Aarthi and Suresh.
A woman arrives in a city that was never hers and soon becomes a fragment of that whole. Parth Pandya’s verse tells the woman’s story and her relationship with the city that took her hostage.
Anupama Krishnakumar’s poem talks about some of the heart-warming experiences that she lived through as a single woman in Bombay over a decade ago.
Pulkit Singh contemplates her daughter’s lack of regular exposure to the city life as she lives in a small town. A trip to a big city with the daughter adds a realisation that Pulkit writes about here.
Anupam Patra sees his city as a person with a soul and a character. He writes of its beauty, ugliness and shortcomings and of its consequence on his own identity. He confesses that his city is messed up but he still has reasons to call it home.
Amidst soaring apartment buildings and glittering malls of Bengaluru, Anjali and Kalpana live in a compact bungalow with jasmine bushes and a washing stone in the backyard. As the city around them changes rapidly, they too have to make a choice − on what to hold on to and what to change.
Mallika’s poems present the city in its myriad hues: its din and bustle, its nonchalance, colours and smells.