2128th BLOG POST
33rd Book of 2024
I have been reading
murder mysteries this year but never thought that by the end of the year, I
would also get a chance upon reading the real murder tales. I just completed
reading Mayabhushan Nagvenkar’s “Murder in the City” which is published by Rupa
Publications in around 192 pages. The book covers deadly crimes and murder from
eight metropolitan cities of India. I liked the way this book has been narrated
as author focuses upon those cases wherein the murder had relation with the
city or the way city’s mindset got transformed after the murder case.
Author has
deep-dived into the mindset of the perpetrators who enforced these crimes and
tries to decode the human psychology with us. As a reader, it’s really
challenging to read few scenes where the murder has been performed maniacally
or a human’s body has been exploited violently. All these murder stories are
based before 1990s and that’s where it becomes an exploration. Most of us are
not aware of such big crimes which has been a part of its cities’ timeline
defining them. Hence, reading these events are an eye-opener.
As the author has
chosen cities as the theme of his book, he has very nicely described and
explained all the cities and its certain locales. As I belong to Mumbai, I was
able to relate a lot with the way South Mumbai has been represented. Similarly,
I was able to enjoy the descriptions of other cities as well. The aesthetics
are nicely visualized. Similarly, author has written all these real-events as
short stories hence while reading, I would forget a lot many times that I am
reading a non-fiction story. Mayabhushan has described all the characters,
their families and their history quite vividly that it appears to be a story
than reality.
There are few
stories that I would like to mention below that really moved me:
The
2nd story about the death in Godrej family was such a nostalgic read as all of
us are aware about d clock tower figure and charm of South Mumbai. The whole
proceeding from molestation to murder to suicide is just mindboggling. The
closing lines on Aredeshir on how he became the biggest brand of locks is just
goosebumpy.
The story of Billa and Ranga was such a horrific tale which happened around d
same time as Indira Gandhi’s assassination where they kidnapped two children of
an Indian navy officer and killed them brutally. The same person who hung Gandhi’s
killer hanged both these criminals as well.
The Bangalore story where a rich woman leaves her family for a conman just because
of his trust of giving her a baby son and in return gets all her property and
eventually kills her tells how desire and superstition can target anyone- rich,
poor or middle-class.
Jakkal’s
story of moving to different towns of Maharashtra from Pune to Kolhapur to
other cities is just chilling. How he targeted one murder after another just to
feel empowered tells a lot about destructive mindset that a person gets into
after doing one wrong act.
Overall,
this is a very unique book and could be a cult or classic after years to go.
Mayabhushan’s theming and storytelling skills make this book unforgettable and
recommendable. I give this book 4 star out of 5.
Thanks!
WRITING
BUDDHA
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