The Migrants And Other Poems

Author : Vidya Hariharan

In the last four decades, I have seen the changing face of Mumbai. The Bombay I grew up in is vastly divergent from the Mumbai I live in now. The city is perpetually under construction, from its shiny new towers to its busy highways, bridges, metros and monorails. While this collection celebrates the eternal survival spirit of the city, it is also a chronicle of a subtle ongoing tectonic shift, which is felt very keenly but not yet expressed in verse. 
The city has lived through some really tough times, like terrorist attacks, and more recently the pandemic, when many people left their homes in the city and returned to their villages. However, the ebullience of the megalopolis remains undiminished.
In this collection, I have attempted to capture this ever-shifting landscape, inviting readers to experience the city’s colour and complexity, whether they are residents themselves, or have visited or are exploring it through words.