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Ghalib goes detecting  When presented with 'What if?', the 'scenario' conjures up numerous possibilities making it an interesting proposition to delve in. What if Mirza Ghalib was a detective? Isn't this enough to hook a reader? We bet so. Thus it is with great interest that we began reading Murder at the Mushaira , and we were not disappointed. Raza Mir, the author, toyed with the possibility of envisioning Ghalib as a detective for nearly 15 years. What we get in Murder at the Mushaira is not a racy whodunit, but more than a peek into the life and times of Ghalib, the Mughal court, the nobility and the sepoys who tried to overthrow the East India Company. The novel is set against the backdrop of First War of Independence and it begins at a point when the 'night is too silent' and ends with a gunshot with the horse rider thrown away from his mount. Who is the horse rider and what is his mission? At that time, Shahjahanabad is a city brewing with tension, in

This interview was first published in Sakal Times Ambika Shaligram Rana Safvi’s third book in the Delhi trilogy series, Shahjahanabad – The Living City of Old Delhi – would strike a chord with the most. After all, who hasn’t heard of Purani Dilli, as we know it now? The other two books in the trilogy include Where Stone Speaks: Historical Trails in Mehrauli, the First City of Delhi and The Forgotten Cities of Delhi. They have been published by HarperCollins. Shahjahanabad or Purani Dilli was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Old timers, descendants of noblemen from Mughal court and members of the Hindu Kayastha community, who moved with Shah Jahan from Agra, still live there. They refer to Shahjahanabad as ‘shehr’.  Shah Jahan decided to build this city because he found Agra and Lahore forts less spacious for his retinue of dignitaries. He finalised the present location between Firozabad and Din Panah for Qila-e-Mubarak (Red Fort) and laid the foundation. The city of Sh