Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

“The Last Bungalow” is a collection of writings and essays about Allahabad (now Prayagraj). Unlike many other anthologies that contain contemporary writings, in this set, the collections of essays start deep in the past. A notable essay is one from Hsiuan Tsang, who visited Allahabad around 1,500 years back.

There is a gap of almost 1,000 years between this essay and that of Ralph Fitch, who visited the city in the middle of the 16th century. The essays cover a motley crew of travelers show more and visitors who came to Allahabad over the years and provide you with a distinct flavor of the changing culture of Allahabad. There is a fascinating essay by Kama Maclean on the origins of the Kumbh Mela.

These essays will appeal to a historian, a person associated with the city, a writer, or anyone interested in understanding how the culture of city’s change.

Most anthologies suffer from a fatal flaw: they do not and cannot represent the voices of the entire cross-section of society. The editors normally choose writers who are like themselves. While such books are very enlightening, a critical reader must realize that they leave out the voices of the ‘local,’ often ‘not-intellectual’ people, like traders, workers, etc. Everyone has a different perspective on the city, and anthologies cannot capture every perspective.

Despite this shortcoming in mind, this anthology is enlightening and very useful for anyone interested in Allahabad’s history from the perspective of the average person. show less