‘We are all storytellers. We live in a network of stories. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling,’ observed Jimmy Neil Smith. The pandemic continues to wreak havoc. Among other damages, it has also strained and restrained human ‘connection’, even among the healthy. This collection is the author’s modest effort to connect.Curfew was imposed in Bhopal on 22nd March, two days ahead of the national lockdown of 21 days. Mahabharat War had lasted 18 days. Good had triumphed over evil. With our little sacrifice, and great resolve, we’d win the war against the pandemic; assured the Leader. Alas, the war is far from over. We would eventually win the war, no doubt about it. But the pandemic has already wreaked havoc, killing people well before their time, ruining lives, and paralyzing economies.How have we coped with the pandemic? Each in their own way. WFH, Zoom meetings, and many other innovative ways of coping with the unprecedented situation. Some have read a few of those books bought long ago, have watched a few films which they had always wanted to watch, have learnt how to cook a few dishes, and have even begun speaking to the relatives. The author did all those things, and also decided to tell share a few stories. These depressing times have much need of stories to keep the mind from obsessing about the pandemic.In his second collection, the author presents an eclectic bunch of twenty-eight stories, spanning an amazing range of genres: from memoirs, travelogue, anecdotes, fantasy, drama, and comedy to satire, and more.In these stories, you’d meet many interesting characters: Ram, Lakshman, Sita, Chanakya, Jayadev and Padmavati, Mona Lisa, Vladimir Putin, Kissinger, Ms. Smith, Laxmi, the nameless flutist, the paan-seller, the girl with the shawl, and others. Each of them has an interesting tale to tell. The micro-stories offer an interesting reading experience. A few of these can be read in a minute, others in two to three minutes. But the taste of the canape would linger long and whet the appetite for more. The author tells each story in his signature style of wry wit and sardonic humour. He effortlessly draws the readers into the stories, engages them by briskly pacing his stories, and often surprises them by finishing it with deft, masterly twists.
