The language of Delhi

Katyal, as his many fans would already know, also creates a queer map for Delhi

A couple of months back, a friend and I were walking down from the SDA Market in South Delhi towards Aurobindo Market, when she pointed out a road sign and said to me: “You know, I can read all the four scripts (Roman, Devnagari, Nastaliq and Gurmukhi) on it.” I could read only the first two and asked her to teach me at least one of the others. In Akhil Katyal’s latest collection of poems — his third — this experience, which must be common for so many of our fellow citizens, finds poetic expression and historical resonance.

“My grandfather/would