Becoming Bangalore: Stories That Shaped A Hometown

What makes a city uniquely itself? Is it its geography, history, location? Is it its leaders, aspirations, demographics? Or is it a palpable spirit, wrought of a combination of all these, that seeps into the soil over centuries, and charges the air, infecting residents and visitors alike? Two decades of exploring her hometown – and reading, writing and talking about it – has convinced Roopa Pai that the last is true: cities are neither born nor made, they become. In this collection of evocative essays, she trawls the city's history to tease out bits of the Bangalore jigsaw - a scientist's quest for excellence, a maharani's foresight, an entrepreneur's vision, a chief minister's ambition, a writer's pride in his language, and more - in an effort to trace the genesis of the liberal soul of the metropolis and its ability to offer inclusive, creative, laid-back spaces amid its frenetic growth. What emerges is a fascinating mosaic that reveals how a little sixteenth-century settlement on a hill became India's most charismatic city.

Available in:

• English

Author: Roopa Pai
Illustrator: Priya Kuriyan
Publisher: Hachette

Format:

• Hardcover