3 Review(s)

This is a collection of twelve short stories. The stories speak of the life of ordinary people, their emotions, their fears and expectations from life. The stories are all based in India, reflecting the Indian way of life right from the quaint hill station of Kurseong to the colonial lifestyle of Assam. While “The Sari” describes the love and passion felt by a maid, wrapped in the hand-me-down sari of her mistress, “Making of a Memsaab” talks about the metamorphosis of a middle class Bengali girl into a snooty tea estate “memsaab”. “Lavender Memories” tells the poignant tale of a schoolboy’s crush on his teacher and “Mrs. Robinson” describes the unusual life of a poor uneducated “coolie” girl from the tea community who becomes the mistress and later the wife of a British tea plantar. “Turn of the Tide” deals with the emotional dilemma faced by a son whose father is in a coma. The protagonist in each of the twelve stories faces a unique situation in life. There is a twist at the end of each story, each story ending on an unexpected note. This collection of short stories can best be described as a roller coaster of myriad emotions.