Arup K. Chatterjee has written a cultural biography of the Indian railways.
The book is titled – The Purveyors of Destiny.
It is replete with anecdotes from colonial and postcolonial accounts.
Arup takes readers on a journey of cultural representations of the railways in Indian literature, film and advertisements.
He says “From Rudyard Kipling to Mark Twain to RK Narayan to Ruskin Bond – the aura of Indian trains and railway station has enchanted many.”
“And, what with iconic railway cinematography from Aradhana, Sonar Kella, Gandhi, Dil Se, or Parineeta, Indian cinema has forged mythical railroads in the Indian psyche, ” adds Arup.
Arup is currently working as an Assistant Professor at OP Jindal University.
Arup K. Chatterjee Source: Arup K. Chatterjee
He is also the founding-chief-editor of an international journal of travel writing and culture – Coldnoon.
His next book projects are a brief history of India and a supernatural historical novel set in colonial India.
To know more about Arup’s The Purveyors of Destiny, listen to his conversation with Amit Sarwal.
