Delhi knows Mahmood Farooqui the dastango. Now meet Farooqui the scholar. A scholar who is disarming, even diffident, acknowledging the contributions of others with generosity. And what makes his book, Besieged: Voices from Delhi 1857, special is his sense of delight and curiosity, and a style that moves between the sober and the theatrical. Begin the book not on Page 1 but with the dramatic paragraph on pages 429-30, and you won’t put it down.