A rich literary exploration of Bombay through contemporary voices, capturing its contradictions, dreams, anonymity, and emotional landscapes, this collection reflects the city’s enduring spirit through stories of migration, ambition, belonging, and everyday life. Prof. Dr. Avinash Kolhe writes…
An Ode to the City: The Only City: Bombay in Eighteen Stories brings together diverse literary voices to portray Mumbai’s evolving identity. From suburban lives to Bollywood dreams, the collection reflects the city’s emotional, social, and cultural fabric, capturing its paradoxes, resilience, and timeless allure.

The Literary Pulse of Bombay
In modern world, each mega city has its mouthpiece. For example, The New Yorker has its New Yorker established in 1925. Similarly, Bombay city once had ‘Island’ and Pune had ‘Citadel’, both folded many years ago. Now comes The Only City: Bombay in eighteen stories, a collection of stories with Bombay city at the center. What is more, these stories are freshly written. It has young voices like Tejaswini Apte-Rahm, Anindita Ghose, semi-senior voices like Manu Joseph, Ranjit Hoskote and very senior voices like Shanta Gokhale, all writing about some aspect or the other of this fascinating mega metro. It is interesting to note that Manu, a novelist and Ranjit, a poet wrote short stories for the first time!
To start with let us talk about the dedication [For the fools who leave, but more for these who return], followed by Editor’s note by Anandita Ghose. The dedication reassures the mad lovers of Bombay [Mumbai now] that if this city grows on you, then it is quite difficult to outgrow it.

The Editor’s note strikes a chord.

Bombay Through an Outsider’s Lens
For outsides, Bombay means Bollywood, Mecca of Cricket, financial capital of the country. And a city that grows every day in terms of population. Some decades ago, they built second Bombay [New Mumbai] and now they are talking about Third Bombay. God bless them!
Interestingly about this collection, it has stories of today’s Bombay. It has characters traveling in local trains, walking in suburbs, making connections and relationships, however temporary. It has people who are never tired of dreaming about their future as Bombay never ceases to offer hopes. If it has middle-class people worrying about their parents while they pursue their careers in far-off countries like USA, UK, it also has drug-peddlers. Tejaswini Apte-Rahm’s Nurse Shanti can be found in many upscale localities on Bombay.

Cinema, Suburbs and Social Realities

Then there are Bollywood hopefuls. Diksha Basu’s ‘Bollywood Baby’ captures this, hard and uncertain struggle of Bollywood wannabes. If the collection mentions Marine Drive, it also has Saki Naka and Sion. Reading these stories really means moving from one suburb to another and from one mindset to another. Though this moving is without map, it is full of emotions. Housing Societies are part of Bombay life. Kersi Khambatta’s ‘The Hos. Secy’ reflects this side of Bombay where life in housing societies, their secretaries, managing committees is painted. In these stories, there are no heroes, supermen, but ordinary human beings who have dreams and loneliness in perhaps equal measure.

The Freedom of Anonymity
At a personal level, what I like the most about the city is the anonymity it offers. One just can do what one wants to do. No questions asked, no answers given. This city never sleeps, always awake to new dreams, new possibilities and yes, new frustrations.
This book is a tribute to the spirit of the city. Caring, careless at the same time. Full of paradox and yet offering space to all voices without discrimination. No wonder Suketu Mehta called it a ‘maximum city’. When I finished reading this collection, a song from C.I.D. made in the 50s was running in my mind ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yanha…’ sung by Mohammed Rafi and then came the song sung by Geeta Dutt ‘Ai Dil Hai Jeena Aasan Yaha…’
Yes, Bombay offers both.

Kaleidoscope Of Stories, Many Worlds One Lens, Diverse Voices, Life And Culture, Mixed Realities, Human Mosaic, Stories Across Spectrums, Everyday Truths, Social Tapestry,