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A review by shishirkc
A Matter of Rats: A Short Biography of Patna by Amitava Kumar
3.0
In 300 BC, when the Greek ambassador Megasthenes arrived in India, he called Patna the "..greatest city in the world. To walk through Patna is like making one's way through the Indian version of ancient Rome." Later, towards the end of the 4th century, Chinese traveller Fa-Hien wrote that "..the Sanskrit name meant 'The city of flowers'; It is the Indian Florence". In 21st century, people from other states ask me, in contrast and knowing that I hail from this city, "Has Patna improved?", and I ask them, "What is the reference point?"
Amitava Kumar, a scholar and an author from Patna, who now lives in the USA, writes a short biography of Patna, and what an intelligent choice of word - 'Biography' and not 'History' - for in this small, moving novel, he tells the story not of the city as a city but the city as a character that has grown and grown and declined and thrives. When I started the book, I expected a history of the city, but instead I was exposed to its people, the story of a city through its people, people who have left Patna but carry it with them, people who stay in Patna and live it, and people who arrive in Patna and make it what it is.
It would be a lie to say that Patna is a likable city. It is not, not at least for an outsider who arrives in the city with a prejudiced mind to criticize it. The cultural character is thin, there are no bookstores (as one of the characters points out and I wholeheartedly share his disappointment), there is no public space (a major exception being the recent and a kick-ass addition of an aesthetically pleasing Bihar Museum, the modernist architecture of which reminds me of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, only grander), and you find clutter, dirt, thelas, electric wires, coaching institutes' hoardings, and rickshaws, disoriented since ages, everywhere. But in its disorderliness, in its increased Entropy, is the natural progression. I can go on and on on why this city, despite its flaws, despite me having stayed in it (through unexpected turn of events) for only two years at stretch, always is endearing, where coming back to parents also means returning to the cradle of memories, not all of which were lived in actuality by me.
Through his conversations with and musings on a host of characters, including Super 30's Anand Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav to migrant laborers, poets and Naxals, Amitava paints the portrait of city, where rats, in addition to their literal meaning, thrive in their metaphorical sense of flaws. However, his portrayal is not perfect. The writing gets dull at times, and often the author becomes a wee-bit more indulgent in telling his own story than that of the city; while many episodes (like the one involving a couple friend of his) seemed unnecessary, many others (about the decline of literary and cultural landscape) needed more details.
The idea of describing a city through its people has a great potential but Amitava falls short of seeing it through. However, I will still recommend this to people who want to know about Patna, or more importantly, who need to know about Patna more than the stereotypical imagery of a city which is crime-intensive and uncouth, perpetrated by the metropolitan-centric media houses.
Amitava Kumar, a scholar and an author from Patna, who now lives in the USA, writes a short biography of Patna, and what an intelligent choice of word - 'Biography' and not 'History' - for in this small, moving novel, he tells the story not of the city as a city but the city as a character that has grown and grown and declined and thrives. When I started the book, I expected a history of the city, but instead I was exposed to its people, the story of a city through its people, people who have left Patna but carry it with them, people who stay in Patna and live it, and people who arrive in Patna and make it what it is.
It would be a lie to say that Patna is a likable city. It is not, not at least for an outsider who arrives in the city with a prejudiced mind to criticize it. The cultural character is thin, there are no bookstores (as one of the characters points out and I wholeheartedly share his disappointment), there is no public space (a major exception being the recent and a kick-ass addition of an aesthetically pleasing Bihar Museum, the modernist architecture of which reminds me of Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum, only grander), and you find clutter, dirt, thelas, electric wires, coaching institutes' hoardings, and rickshaws, disoriented since ages, everywhere. But in its disorderliness, in its increased Entropy, is the natural progression. I can go on and on on why this city, despite its flaws, despite me having stayed in it (through unexpected turn of events) for only two years at stretch, always is endearing, where coming back to parents also means returning to the cradle of memories, not all of which were lived in actuality by me.
Through his conversations with and musings on a host of characters, including Super 30's Anand Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav to migrant laborers, poets and Naxals, Amitava paints the portrait of city, where rats, in addition to their literal meaning, thrive in their metaphorical sense of flaws. However, his portrayal is not perfect. The writing gets dull at times, and often the author becomes a wee-bit more indulgent in telling his own story than that of the city; while many episodes (like the one involving a couple friend of his) seemed unnecessary, many others (about the decline of literary and cultural landscape) needed more details.
The idea of describing a city through its people has a great potential but Amitava falls short of seeing it through. However, I will still recommend this to people who want to know about Patna, or more importantly, who need to know about Patna more than the stereotypical imagery of a city which is crime-intensive and uncouth, perpetrated by the metropolitan-centric media houses.