Finished reading: All Quiet in Vikaspuri by Sarnath Banerjee 📚
Sarnath Banerjee’s graphic novel “All Quiet in Vikaspuri” is an alt universe / dystopian future story centered on the posh neighborhood of Vikaspuri in South Delhi. An ensemble of colorful characters illuminate this otherwise monochrome book, whose pencil art is sparse, but powerful.
Girish, a psychic plumber tasked with finding the magical river Saraswati. A former army colonel. A former employee of the Delhi Water Board.
For anyone who is vaguely interested in how Asia’s mega-cities balance urban planning, growth and ecology (hint: mostly poorly), this is a poignant way to understand some of the issues at stake. Even though the characters and issues are presented as dystopian fantasy, they are very real.
Nowhere more real than Banerjee’s quips about Gurgaon, the satellite city just outside New Delhi that was built by private enterprise, and feels like it.
In the graphic novel, he says, “80 per cent of Indian cities will become like Gurgaon”. “People think their building provides their water and power.”
