Profile – R V Smith, Delhi’s Classic Chronicler General by The Delhi Walla - March 31, 2008December 9, 20149 The city has ignored its most endearing lover. [Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] Robert Kaplan, the author of Balkan Ghosts, carried just one book, Rebecca West’s Black Lamb and Grey Falcon—A Journey Through Yugoslavia, in his shoulder bag while travelling through the Balkans. I walk in Delhi and my fellow traveller happens to be Ronald Vivian Smith’s modern classic The Delhi that No-one Knows. It’s a book showcasing all the myths, legends, rumors and secrets of Delhi in an easy and neat language that speaks straight to the heart. In the book’s introduction, Mr Smith writes: I did not refer to any book, did not make notes from dusty volumes in old libraries—I just walked! Sometimes I took buses—many a long afternoon years ago, when as a bachelor and a young journalist in Delhi, finding out about old monuments was a passion. Mr Smith is what I aspire to be. I recently met him and was shocked. The gentleman, one of the most charming chroniclers of Delhi, has clearly been ignored by this city. He looked harassed and beaten down. While other Delhi writers (think William Dalrymple, Khushwant Singh etc.) live in elegant apartments and plush farm houses, Mr Smith has his residence “somewhere in Mayapuri.” He carries no mobile phone and owns no car. He is old and commutes in crowded DTC buses. It was difficult to link the gentleman to the book he has written. But just a two-minute conversation with him made it clear that here is the man who knows all the stories of this city: the qawwals of obscure dargahs in the old town; the kothas of Chawri Bazaar, the churail of Delhi Gate, and much other delightful folklore. I’m told that Mr Smith, in his young days, would initiate people into the art of love making. He would guide them to the best courtesans in town, teach the correct way of eating paan, explain how to tie a gajra, and how to talk of love to the beloved. Mr Smith would also write poems describing the adas of the leading society ladies of the day. But that was yesterday. Today Mr Smith seems bogged down by the blows of life though he still writes for The Statesmen…The Statesman! (Who reads The Statesman? This man clearly has no idea how vital he is to the narrative of this city.) Besides, presently Mr Smith is concentrating all energies in helping his 21-year-old college-dropout niece to realize her dream of becoming a model. But he hardly knows any important person in the city who could make her task easier. Recently he met one such person who knows many important people. As the third person in that get-together, I was witness to Mr Smith, the walking-talking encyclopedia of India’s capital, reduced to having tears in his eyes as he begged that important person to do all she can “to make my niece a model.” Later, I discovered that Mr Smith is particularly unlucky with nieces. I opened The Delhi that No-one Knows to find this: Dedicated to Anamika Smith (Mun Mun) my niece, a flower that faded in full bloom. Mr Smith and niece FacebookX Related Related posts: City Notice – Delhi Storytellers RV Smith, Sadia Dehlvi, Rakhshanda Jalil, Oxford Book Store City Moment – RV Smith’s Almirah Dream, Mayapuri The Biographical Dictionary of Delhi – Ronald Vivian Smith, b. Agra, 1938 Netherfield Ball – Author RV Smith’s Kissing Escapades With Delhi’s Beautiful Ladies, Central Delhi Garden Party City Obituary – RV Smith, 1938-2020
as usual a most interesting piece;where does one get a copy of the book?who is the publisher.>>najib shah
Yes, I have that book, and have read it twice over. It didn’t quite make me go and see the monuments again, but it’s simple, and interesting. A bit like the author, I now see.
Love the article! >God only knows how I wish to come back to Delhi and get lost in those starlit bylanes of the city…. >“kaun jaaye zauq par dilli ki galiyaan chod kar”
I have only one reference to a piece of my family history which is Dargah Sabriya in Darya Ganj. Thanks to this blog and R V Smith’s book I found reference to it in which he has written a few pages on it. My mother was born there and my great grandfather was the Sajjada nashin of the Dargah. My grandfather however moved to Pakistan and I live in England but my heart is there in old Delhi although I have never visited. Thank you Mr Smith! I wish I could meet you.>Dr Naveed Siddiqi
Wow! I recently read Capital Vignettes A Peep Into Delhi‘s Ethos by RV Smith and immediately fell in love with the city that I am born in again. All the wonderful stories reflect a pale nostalgia and this piece makes me sad. Your blog and his stories are the perfect odes to this majestic city. Keep it up!
Mayankji, Aapki kahani…dard bhari…aur kathin prashn puchti huiee…bahuth khoob…bahuth khoob… All i can say is a line fm the movie Pardes “…aur kuch nahi kar sake, tho dua hum karenge…” I hope and pray that Smithji and niece will find a better future in this new year 2009. Bye…Take Care Vijay Gupta
Great going… I wonder how come everything I discover about Delhi and turn to find more on the net I invariably reach your blog through google…! You seem to be not just steps but miles ahead! Looking forward to meet you…!