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Basti & Durbar: Delhi–New Delhi, A City in Stories is a 32-piece fiction anthology edited by Rakhshanda Jalil. Through short stories and novel excerpts, it places Delhi’s working-class and marginalized lives alongside its elite, political and bureaucratic worlds. Its breadth makes it a wide-ranging literary portrait—not a definitive account of the city.
What kind of book is Basti & Durbar?
It is a multi-author anthology, not a continuous narrative, history textbook or general guide to Delhi. Published by Speaking Tiger, the hardback edition is listed at 448 pages and carries ISBN 9789363362147. Speaking Tiger’s product page describes it as a collection of thirty-two stories.
The form is mixed: the collection brings together short fiction and excerpts from novels. Some writing was originally in English; other pieces are translated into English from Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Malayalam, as Sneha Pathak notes in her Scroll.in review.
Whose Delhi appears in the collection?
The anthology sets contrasting spaces and lives beside one another. Its “basti” and “durbar” framing points toward a city seen from both economically precarious and powerful vantage points: working-class neighborhoods as well as elite, political and bureaucratic settings. The stories do not all address the same subjects, but the review identifies recurring concerns including migration, Partition displacement, the search for work, Emergency-era fear, and the restrictions shaping a woman’s choices.
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Delhi here is both a place people inhabit and a force entwined with their fortunes. The collection’s historical reach includes changing versions of the city and, in one instance, a glimpse of a possible future. Rather than offering a single overview, the pieces build a portrait through distinct voices, eras and social settings.
Who wrote the stories?
Among the writers named by the publisher are Khushwant Singh, Bhisham Sahni, Rashid Jahan, Mohan Rakesh, Gulzar, Krishna Sobti, Keki Daruwalla, M. Mukundan, Asghar Wajahat, Namita Gokhale, Uday Prakash, Navtej Sarna, Sujit Saraf, Vandana Singh, Palash Krishna Mehrotra, Manjula Padmanabhan, Ajay Navaria, Ankush Saikia and Priya Hajela. The range of contributors is part of the book’s many-voiced design.
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Is it a comprehensive picture of Delhi?
“Comprehensive” is best understood as a description of range, not a claim that one anthology can represent every community or settle what Delhi means. Jalil makes that distinction herself. In her essay for The Tribune, she writes: “No anthology is ever definitive; this one makes no pretence whatsoever for one is fully aware of the wisdom in these words by Percival Spear, Delhi’s pre-eminent historian: ‘Full understanding is granted to no one.” The essay continues: “For those who seek there are rewarding glimpses… but always Dilli dur ast, the Delhi of full knowledge is far off.”
That modesty suits the form. A reader may connect strongly with some selections and less with others; the book’s value lies in the range of perspectives it brings into conversation, rather than in claiming a complete census of city life.
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Who is likely to enjoy it?
Choose Basti & Durbar if you want fiction that moves across Delhi’s historical periods and social worlds, or prefer sampling many writers and forms over following one protagonist. It may be less suitable if you are looking for a factual history, practical travel guide or sustained single narrative.
For readers weighing other Delhi books, launch coverage also names City Improbable: An Anthology of Writings on Delhi, Historic Delhi: An Anthology and Twilight in Delhi. Those titles offer other routes into the city, but the available information does not establish a title-by-title quality comparison.
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Publication details
- Editor: Rakhshanda Jalil
- Publisher: Speaking Tiger
- Format: Hardback, 448 pages; ISBN 9789363362147, according to the publisher listing.
- Launch: The book was launched at New Delhi’s India Habitat Centre on April 27, 2025, according to Indian Printer & Publisher.
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