I spent five years in India, the first two in Calcutta. I was appalled the first day to see fragile two wheel-rickshaws parked near my apartment corner. They were 'taxis' pulled by bare-chested, barefoot men. It took months before I climbed into one and only after my British date explained the favor we would be doing the man who pulled it. We would tip him a month's pay for our ride. He then gave me advice for future rides. Never climb into a rickshaw if you have doubts about the driver and/or he won't give you a fair price. Not many white folk used rickshaws. I was young and more in love with India with every breath. I visited many parts of Calcutta, a sprawling city of 12,000,000 people. Eventually I had a car but liked riding the rickshaws too much to give them up. I could go anywhere in the city at any hour and find a safe ride home. They took care of me. I have never felt so safe. And I have lived many places. I know some of them have to be in the pages of "The City of Joy."
"The City of Joy" is epic. I love it. It is a great book. Beautifully written. It is hard to describe its totality. So I'm not going to review it. Instead I quote from the author's " Afterward": "That very first monsoon morning I walked into it. I knew that this wretched inhuman slum of Calcutta called the City of Joy was one of the most extraordinary places on our planet. When I left it two years later with some twenty pads full of notes and hundreds of hours of tape, I knew I had the material for the greatest book of my career, an epic of heroism, love, and faith, glorious tribute to the human capacity to beat adversity and survive every possible tragedy."
"This certainly was one of the most extraordinary experiences that a writer could. It changed my life. Living with the heroic inhabitants of the City of Joy completely transformed my sense of priorities and my assessment of the true values of life."
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In his Author's Note Dominique Lapierre says that we should not extend his impressions gathered in "The City of Joy" to the whole of India, that they are based on "one small corner of it--a small area of Calcutta called the City of Joy.
The City of Joy is not seen by tourists. Much better that they read Lapierre's fantastically rich empathetic description of Calcutta's sub city. and some of her poorest and most heroic. If you think you understand poverty and hardship, if you have travelled to or want to understand India better read this book.
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