Destination Delhi – A Migrant’s Tale

ABOUT THE BOOK

‘Destination Delhi – A Migrant’s Tale’ follows the journey of the author and his friend Pratik from a small town in Assam to the national capital Delhi. As they strive hard to start a new life in the bustling metropolis, the city also tests them hard. It poses one challenge after another for years altogether only to finally embrace them as its very own, reminding us that this city after all has some space for everyone who comes here to bring dreams to reality. 

In this exciting journey, there is love, there is friendship, there is humour and there are moments of loss and disappointment as well.  To make things more interesting, there is also a dash of horror and the fear of the unknown!! 

If there is an unscrupulous property dealer cheating youngsters, there is also a good Samaritan in a blue line bus, who saves the author from being beaten up by a rowdy conductor. If there are pesky mobile thieves stealing phones from passengers on crowded buses, there is also the kind roadside chole kulcha vendor who would affectionately offer an extra serving. Humour is generated from the author’s ignorance as he struggles to eat spaghetti pasta with a fork in a posh restaurant or gets stuck in the toilet of a five-star hotel since the latch was too sophisticated for his taste!!     

Migrants also come to this city in all hues and colours. In the course of his stay, the author meets the little shoe polish boy who had hopped onto a train from Chhapra in Bihar to land up here. Pratik befriends a little fellow who was left all alone in the city beneath a busy flyover. Then, there is the story of the haunted house in Lajpat Nagar and the heart-wrenching tale of the doctor who lost his life while treating COVID-19 patients. And there are the thrilling train journeys between Delhi and Assam through the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 

So, get ready to join this exhilarating journey. This book will surely touch a chord with the many migrants who shift to the big cities in search of their dreams!!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A migrant has the privilege of traversing many different worlds and the author Tomojit Bhattacharjee has also used this opportunity to move from one place to another to observe life keenly and weave out interesting stories from those experiences. Tomojit started his career as a journalist with the Press Trust of India (PTI) and is currently working as a Joint General Manager in the Department of Corporate Communications at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

These professional experiences gave him ample opportunities to travel extensively and interact with people across the National Capital Region (NCR). His relatively humble beginnings helped him see the society from a more humane perspective and in this book he has tried to portray the lives of many who do not have the privilege of money or education but like those with white collared jobs, they also migrate to the cities for a better tomorrow.  

Tomojit holds a doctorate in new media studies. He belongs to the northeastern town of Silchar in southern Assam and completed his Masters in Mass Communication from Assam Central University in Silchar. He was an avid debater in college and university and had won the second prize in a national-level debating competition at the University of Rajasthan in Jaipur.  His first book, ‘New Media in Public Relations’ published in 2020 studies the evolving scenario of the new media industry in India. His short story, ‘The Night Train to Guwahati’ was featured in an anthology of short stories titled ‘Path Up The Hill’ published in 2021. He currently stays in Gurugram with his wife and son.