Mithun Number Two and Other Mumbai Stories

These are stories tinged with melancholy but lit with hope, capturing moments of transcendence in the midst of anonymity and routine. Young men migrate to Mumbai looking for work or a more exciting life, while others, women and men, young and old, make the journey for different reasons. In this city that rules the dreams of people up and down the coast, strangers become friends, families negotiate strife and affection, and children grow up in homes where the lines between coercion and care are blurred.

Delightfully unexpected and deceptively simple, Jayant Kaikini's stories in this deft translation by Tejaswini Niranjana are unforgettable.