Published Paper Details:

This research paper studies the alienation caused by the culture of narcotics in the metropolitans of India, specifically Mumbai, through textual analysis and close reading of Jeet Thayil's Narcopolis. My research establishes a direct link between drug use and alienation. Alienation of man is also a result of repeated drug consumption as well as an alienated being consuming narcotics in the first place to understand life. The ready availability in metros as well as the culture of drugs also promoted consumption. Opium City by Amar Farooqui traces the history of Bombay through colonial times via opium trade. Thus, Bombay was built on narcotics trade and it is very natural for it to become a heavy consumer of the same. Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater started the culture of Addiction Literature in English. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, pioneer of the Romanticism in English Literature regularly used Opium as a prescription medicine but developed a regular need which influenced his finest works due to the dreams induced by the drug. Elizabeth Barrett Browning used laudanum for relieving pain but was hooked to it. Stephen King was addicted to alcohol and narcotics. The Beat Generation romanticized drug use for intellectual interest and enhancement of creativity. William S. Burroughs, primary figure of Beat Generation, wrote most of his work under the influence or from his experience as a heroin addict. Narcotics are used for helping spark creativity and exploring the untouched corners and crevices of the brain. They have always been a part of the world of writing either as a prescription or recreation. Amitav Ghosh's Ibis Trilogy gives a vivid account of opium plantations in India and the massive money it generated in world trade for the East India Company as well as traders across the world. The focus of this project is the influence of narcotics culture in the Indian setting primarily through Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil set in Bombay of the 70s and 80s and tripping on heroin. How Bombay became a hub for intoxication starting with the trade in opium from the times of the British and its present availability on every khokha in India for mere 1 rupee.