The Preface of the
book, “The City At Its Limits”,
talks about the city of Lima, its history, its development to its present time,
its society, its culture, politics, etc. A society is an organization of people,
made by the people of a particular country or city. It is governed by certain
self-imposed rules and regulations, culture and traditions. For peace and order
and for the smooth functioning of the society, certain laws are enforced and
codes of conduct are established. Breaking these is considered a taboo.
The city of Lima
too is facing an upheaval. The newly appointed Mayor wants to restore the past
glory of Lima by beautifying and cleaning the city. But change is never easy.
The local people of Lima too rebel against these changes in various ways, which
results in the breaking of certain taboos. The author, who has returned to her
native city of Lima after a long absence, realizes that her perception of the
city has changed drastically. She tries to reveal the relation between taboo
and transgression of limits through events and incidents happening in Lima. She
realizes that one cannot judge the exact intention or expectations in the minds
of people while establishing laws, rules and regulations. Similarly, we cannot
really analyze or judge why people transgress certain limits or break taboos. All
that remains is a broken taboo…!
“The Mythic City” written by Gyan
Prakash tells us about his dreams and fantasies connected to Mumbai since his
childhood. This desire of his built up largely due to the Bombay Cinema. He
further talks about how people have adapted themselves in terms of the latest
fashion to even memorizing and mouthing their dialogues. Politics played a big
role as well. Bombay was totally corrupt and soulless which was an absolute
contrast to the simplicity and warmth of the village. The fascination with
Bombay was due to the glamour and desire for a modern life.
- Sharanya Aggarwal
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