Past Imperfect Episode 13: Murali Ranganathan on Bombay and Mumbai, Past and Present

Over the past fifteen years, Murali Ranganathan has trawled archives and libraries looking for material on Mumbai’s history in Marathi, Gujarati, Urdu, and Persian. And he has assembled some remarkable finds into a series of books and articles covering everything from print history to pandemics. His latest book, The First World War Adventures of Nariman Karkaria, is a translation from Gujarati of a Parsi soldier’s rollicking accounts of his world travels and battle experiences. And it provides a window into a broader discussion of Mumbai and its people. How has the city changed and stayed the same over the centuries? What is the longer history of controversies over naming, identity, and belonging in the Maximum City? How do Mumbaikars understand their city’s history?