“Its the kind of book you will find yourself returning to again and again, if only to dip into  it long after you’ve actually devoured the book from cover to cover.” 

— The New Indian Express, March 31st, 2019 (full review here)

An ex-con turned butcher and a tourist guide: Two faces from ‘quaint’ Pondicherry

In ‘Beyond The Boulevards’, Aditi Sriram looks behind the famous and the visible in the Union territory.

— Scroll, April 3rd, 2019 (full excerpt here)

“Aditi Sriram puts it succinctly in Beyond the Boulevards — A short biography of Pondicherry — that the city is far from ‘quaint’, an adjective often used to describe the Union Territory.”

— Sakal Times, April 27th, 2019 (full interview here)

“There’s a part of the book where she admires the many libraries in this small city and reserves special praise for the Head Librarian of Pondicherry University whose maxim is that a library must have an ‘irresistible ambience’.”

— Hindustan Times, May 3rd, 2019 (full review here)

A journey into Puducherry’s past through nomenclature

Beyond the Boulevards charts Puducherry’s eventful history, in which diverse cultures of the world, from Dutch to French to Portuguese, have played defining roles.

— Sunday Guardian, May 5th, 2019 (full review here)

“Sriram, who teaches writing at Ashoka University, brings in her academic rigour (a book this slim has 177 notes at the end) and dives deep into Pondicherry’s history, geography and anthropology.”

— Outlook, May 8th, 2019 (full review here)

“Punctuated with small stories that are folklore of the place, this is a languid Sunday read that is the perfect gift for a mother who is already planning her next trip, without having unpacked her suitcase from the last.”

— The Telegraph, May 10th, 2019 (full review here)

“The author-flâneur first walks down a street, visits a building, or meets people in public and private spaces in the city. There she unearths facts, of the past and present, and weaves them into a story.”

— Open Magazine, May 17th, 2019 (full review here)

“Sriram’s account of the city seeks to move beyond these superficial descriptions, tracing the city’s history through old maps and changes in its name, and attempting to chart its present through the lives of its current residents”

— LiveMint, May 25th, 2019 (full review here)