The book launch of Urban Chronicles- a graphic novel by Nita Bajoria took place in the presence of the author, Usha Uthup, Tanushree Shankar, Swati Gautam and others.

Urban Chronicles is a collection of three graphic short stories namely Balcony, Smell and Mrs Ramachandran. The graphic novel is a first of its kind as it explores life in a metro city.

This is the second book of Nita Bajoria. Her first book was The Leap which was published in 2018. “I have been writing short stories when the idea of the first novel came. I wrote that and published it. I was again writing short stories. I asked a few of my friends and they said that they used to read so much before. But now they do not have much time and hence they wanted short stories which they could complete quickly. Thus the idea of Urban Chronicles” said the author.

After the book launch, a discussion on Urban Women in Contemporary India was organized.

Speaking at the discussion, Usha Uthup said “There is a common thought that rural women are backward. However I know many women who are very forward in their thoughts and actions. Like the help that I have in my home is not from the city. However they are so forward in their thoughts. They manage their families and also protest against their husband’s ill deeds. That is a huge change”.

The illustrations of the book have been done by Pradipta Mukherjee.

The book is published by Bee Books and is priced at Rs 189. The book will be available at leading book stores in India and also in major online platforms.

Priyanka Dutta