Ben Writes

Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

Leaving the only home you have ever known behind can be a very difficult experience, but in Maximum City by Suketu Mehta we see that returning can be equally tumultuous. Maximum City chronicles the return of our author to his home city of Mumbai (or Bombay) some 25 years after leaving as a child. What is born of his return is a sprawling, rambling but ultimately interesting and often engrossing cautionary tale confirming the old axiom “You can’t go home again”.

Overview
Starting with his return and the difficulty he experienced with simple tasks we take for granted, Mehta outlines the growing pains he sees all around - which he attributes to Mumbai being ill equipped for its burgeoning immigrant population.

From there we jump off to the tenuous relationship between its Hindi and Muslim populations - a relationship with a long and bloody history. Mehta finds stories in a set of low ranking gangsters on both sides of the conflict and their roles in 1993 bombings and riots. We meet Anil (Hindi - Shiv Sena), Saleem (Muslim - Dawood Gang), Ajay (Police), and others who despite their roles, ultimately look for the same thing: a home in which to raise their families with the ideals they were raised with, the only difference being the gang they are associated with. As Suketu becomes more entangled in a dangerous web of gangsters things become very real for him - he finds police secretly keeping files on him, loaded guns pointed at him, and face to face with high ranking Vito Coroleone-esque mobsters.

When Suketu finds things becoming a little too real, he moves on to possibly his most intriguing subjects - Beer Bar Girls named Mona Lisa and Honey. Mona Lisa catches the authors eye and as tell us her story you begin to sense there is an infatuation that pushes beyond friendship between the two. As the two become closer you find yourself becoming incredibly invested in their well being. Honey is a man who dresses as a woman to make money he couldn’t dream of elsewhere. He walks the line of a very blurred world and struggles juggling his husbandly duties and his incredible fame.

Lastly we move on to a Jain family that own a diamond shop but intend to give everything away to become monks. Mehta, who holds on to all his memories and experiences as a child, is in stark contrast with the family prepared to let everything go. By the end of their chapter, Mehta seems prepared to let go and move on with his life.

In the end, this is more than just an expose on the seedy underbelly of India - its about the struggles Mehta has with adjusting to a place that isn’t exactly as he remembered - and his eventual understanding that he can’t return home.

What I Liked
Mehta tells a powerful story and it resonates deeply with me. His enthusiasm for his subjects and the way he dives in head first to every situation leaves you worried for his safety.

What I Didn’t Like
The book is about 150 pages longer than it needs to be. It is long and rambles … and then rambles some more. Although the book picks up later on, you are almost reading just to get the book done. With a little better pacing and editing, this would be a lot more enjoyable of a read

Conclusion
A good book that could have been great
***.5 out of *****