Why a Booktrail?
2000s: Heaven is the name of a thirty-year old slum….
A People’s History of Heaven
What you need to know before your trail
Welcome to Heaven, a thirty-year-old slum hidden between brand-new high-rise apartment buildings and technology incubators in contemporary Bangalore, one of India’s fastest-growing cities. In Heaven, you will come to know a community made up almost entirely of women, mothers and daughters who have been abandoned by their men when no male heir was produced. Living hand-to-mouth and constantly struggling against the city government who wants to bulldoze their homes and build yet more glass high-rises, these women, young and old, gladly support one another, sharing whatever they can.
This is a story about geography, history, and strength, about love and friendship, about fighting for the people and places we love even if no one else knows they exist
Travel Guide
Visit heaven in Bangalore with A People’s History
Heaven is a place you would never describe as a slum in Bangalore, but in this book, it is. There are many in and around the city sadly but these are microcosms of the city at large. Each slum is a city in itself, a community….
“If you want a people’s history of Heaven, just look at the houses. The newest buildings are only thatch. Woven walls listing and tilting not yet anchored to the ground. The oldest homes are solid, stubborn. Brown brick walls, red shingled roofs. Wooden doors streaked with rainbows of waterproof paint, warped from years of Bangalore’s monsoons.”
Banu’s half of Heaven:
“Now, Banu’s half of Heaven is an uninhabitable planet. Wood frames of houses jut out of the earth like broken bones. Wires twist out of the rubble like severed limbs. Banu kneels in the dirt, excavating her former home like it’s a grave site. “
Booktrail Boarding Pass: A People’s History of Heaven
Destination : Bangalore Author/Guide: Mathangi Subramanian Departure Time: 2000s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
