New Market Tales-------pan macmillan

There was something about Calcutta in the 1960s and 1970s – a once-glorious city found itself torn by the Naxalite movement. Revolution and history were being staged at every street corner. But nothing had shaken the historic New Market since its illustrious beginnings in 1874, not the World Wars, not the struggle for Independence; the market thrived no matter who was in power.

Armed with a fistful of memories, Jayant Kripalani weaves nostalgia into these short stories about the inhabitants of New Market. A sprawling landscape that houses both enterprise and extraordinary people, New Market continues to be something of an institution in Calcutta. And any time is a good time to revisit it by taking a trip down Kripalani’s memory lane and meeting Francis, the baker’s boy who becomes a jewellery maker, Ganguly Gainjeewallah and his activist-daughter Gopa, and a cast of characters who excite you, exasperate you but still win you over.