Wiscon hosts an event called The Gathering at the start of their convention. It’s kind of a mish-mash of activities to welcome folks to the convention before the main festivities begin. This year I saw a zine table, a couple of tarot readers, a palm reader, a group performing shapenote singing (not quite sure what defines that, but they sounded great), a clothing swap (mostly women’s clothing so not of much use to me, but I did get a book bag there which was oh so useful), and more. One table presented a plethora of ARCs and proofs for conventioneers as a fundraiser for Wiscon (or maybe the Tiptree Award, I forget which). One buck per ARC. I have no idea who donated the ARCs. Most appeared to be fantasy, with a chunks of science fiction, paranormal fantasy, and young adult titles as well. And there I saw Delhi Noir.
At the beginning of this year, I’d never heard of Akashic Books, publisher of Delhi Noir. But in one of my periodic internet searches for books by authors I like, I saw that Curt Colbert would be the editor for a forthcoming book of noir short stories set in Seattle. I loved Colbert’s Jake Rossiter series put out by the much missed Uglytown imprint, and keep hoping (and searching) for a fourth installment from some other source. Anyhoo, poking around I’ve seen that Seattle Noir (just released) is actually part of a decently large series put out by Akashic Books. When I saw the Delhi Noir A.R.C. I had to grab it.
Why did I need it? Well, partially to find out what sort of quality I might expect before I plunked down real money for the Seattle edition. And secondly I’ve been to Delhi and know a little bit about the city (just enough to be dangerous though). If ever there are cities that are ground for noir-ish crime fiction, India has them, and Delhi is prime in that set. Parts are seedy, dirty, and dark. They exist in close proximity to fresh, upscale malls and developments. Large numbers of people are on the take. Kickbacks, while by no means universal, are so common as to be a way of life. Small rebel groups operate within 100 miles of the city. Bandits and highway robbers with one name and (probably undeserved) Robin Hood reputations operate nearby as well. In many ways it’s like America in the early 1900s. That’s mulch for noir. I figured there was a good chance I’d enjoy this book.
I’m happy to report this my expectations have been met. I’ve only read a small handful of crime fiction anthologies (so take this for what that’s worth), but Delhi Noir is easily the best one I’ve ever cracked open. None of the stories blew me away, but Sawhney’s selections consistently turn out good. I liked every single story in the book. Every single one. Delhi did indeed turn out to be good setting for noir.
I wish I lived near enough to New York City to attend one of the upcoming readings/launch parties for this.
Yesterday Man
by Omair Ahmad- Suhasini Das is a private investigator in Delhi, formerly partnered with Jaidev Triloki. Triloki has disappeared, and one of his clients comes to Suhasini to finish the job. Arjun Singh wants to find a man he, scared out of his mind at the time, helped to kill another man. He’s living his life backwards, so to speak, to reach that point in time and redeem himself. It’s more a traditional crime fiction story than an noir story filled with atmosphere, but it does have a noirish ending.
How I Lost My Clothes
by Radhika Jha- Fancy schmancy upper class consultant type barely maintains his life as he does lots of drugs on the side. So much an addict that he ends up doing drugs with people under the bridge, he wakes up after a particularly bad week missing deadlines, far from home, having his clothes stolen by his homeless drug buddies. Wasn’t even left his underwear. He has to get himself home, or somewhere safe at least, and get himself something to wear. I enjoyed the story, but it was the only story in the collection that didn’t seem to have the feeling of threat, of double-cross, of the possibility of bad things happening. So it stood out in a book of noir as feeling not noir. Still good.
Last In, First Out
by Irwin Allan Sealy- Baba Ganoush drives an auto-rickshaw long hours to get ahead. Sometimes he works late into the night. Sometimes he sees the worst of things. Sometimes he does something about it. A little vigilante justice sometimes hits the spot!
Parking
by Ruchir Joshi- It’s common for public servants in India to want a little cash to do their jobs, or do a little bit extra of their jobs. Neighbors fight over a parking spot that is technically public. One set of neighbors has a couple of friendly (to them) parking enforcement officers put the pressure on the girlfriend of the other neighbor. No heavy threat this time, just ordinary justice for hire.
Hissing Cobras
by Nalinaksha Bhattacharya- Inspector Raghav Bakshi investigates the supposedly accidental death of Mukta Agarwal’s mother in law. Though living together, Mukta and Kamla didn’t get along, and Bakshi is out to prove Mukta’s responsibility for the crime. Moreover, he’s gonna collect payment from Mukta to make the
hissing cobras
(pieces of evidence) disappear. He is not a nice guy! I could see where this story was going, but I thoroughly enjoyed it getting there. The Railway Aunty
by Mohan Sikka- A shy young virgin is initiated into the worldly ways of sex by an older friend of his guardian aunt when he stops by to pick up a box of apples. He goes back for more, and more, and then she starts pimping him out to other women, for money. Perhaps not even remotely realistic at all, it’s bow-chicka-bow-bow fun with a dark edge! One of the few stories in the collection where the woman isn’t the one getting taken advantage of in the worst way.
Hostel
by Siddharth Chowdhury- Zorawar Singh is the landlord of a hostel filled with miscreants. After they protect him one day from a group of sword-wielding men who come to the hostel to avenge a husband’s honor, a newer miscreant learns the story of how Zorawar came to own and run the hostel. My least favorite in the anthology, but still not bad.
Small Fry
by Meera Nair- A street urchin works selling tea at the bus terminal in Selhi, and assists a tout who sells unlicensed bus tickets. He gets involved a bit more than usual when a gorgeous young woman, a Bollywood level beauty, needs tickets fast out of town. The tout and he have to make a run for it. Kind of cold-blooded, but I liked him.
Fit of Rage
by Palash Krishna Mehrotra- The protagonist lives in Delhi, hiding out from a crime he committed in a fit of rage in Mumbai. He rents a room upstairs from his landlord Mrs. Bindra, but he hangs out with the servants, who harbor a little resentment of their own. Another very cold-blooded story. Another good one.
Just Another Death
by Hartosh Singh Bal- After a servant dies in suspicious circumstances, a new journalist investigates but is persuaded to drop the case. Decades later after he has become a revered newsman he decides to poke into the case that started him off and see if his hunch had been right. Yet another very cold-blooded story. Still another good one.
Gautam Under a Tree
by Hirsh Sawhney- Several years prior to the story, Gautam worked with a foreign documentary maker, Lauri Zeller, to film a tribal group that was fighting corruption and capitalism. Though lovers, they had a falling out when Zeller wanted to make the documentary about how art could save the tribal members and several key leaders of the group were murdered including a man Gautam considered a friend. Now he has a chance to write an expose on how an industrialist orchestrated the murder. The story is told from the point of view of Gautam’s girlfriend. I do wonder which foreign documentarian Sawhney is taking a shot at here. Anyway, Gautam is presented with a pretty awful choice.
The Scam
by Tabish Khair- A couple of somewhat gullible celebrity types convince a cynical journalist to investigate a
caste atrocity
in Bihar. The story the low-caste mother and child tell is of being forced off their land by another caste. The journalist doesn’t believe because he caught the child running a turd scam, where a kid throws birdshit on your shoes and then offers to polish them for a fee (something the India guidebooks warn visitors about). Also, if the atrocity were real, in his mind, a politician would already be milking it for publicity. A tale of people changing their minds, but not always for the better. The Walls of Delhi
by Uday Prakash (Prakash’ English language blog, Hindi language blog)- This is the only entry in the book not originally written in English, and it is perhaps my favorite. One of India’s poor, who squats in a ruined castle with his family, works as a janitor cleaning government buildings. Until he finds a cache of millions hidden in a building he cleans. He steals some to finance a lavish lifestyle, even taking on a mistress. Will greed take him too far? Who really owns the money? Loved this.
Cull
by Manjula Padmanabhan- And this story actually has a connection to Wiscon! I’d been wondering why the hell a mystery anthology would find its way to a science fiction convention. The last story is a Philip K. Dick kind of near-future S.F. noir. The ruling class decides to do something about an uncontrolled group of the underclass living in a 2,000 acre garbage dump on the northern outskirts of future Delhi, where historical buildings have been moved to underground parks to make way for rigid rectangular city blocks. It’s not particularly original, other than the Delhi setting. Still, it does have a different cultural vibe than these stories usually have.
One word of warning about the collection: violence against women dominates most of the stories. I’m not in a position to know whether that’s representative of Indian culture today or if it’s an editorial bias. It’s not presented in a positive light. Pretty much every story has men taking advantage of men. By my quick count, eight have men taking advantage of women, all violently or sexually. Two have women taking advantage of men, one sexually and one violently. Be that it might reflect reality, some people won’t enjoy the level of violence against women. If you get squicked when that sort of thing predominates, don’t read this.
Title: Delhi Noir
Editor: Hirsh Sawhney
Cover creator: Madhu Kapparath (photographer) / Jon Resh (designer)
Series: Akashic Books Noir Series
Imprint / publisher: Akashic Books
Format: Advanced readers copy
Length: 280 p.
Publication date: August 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1-933354-78-1
