The twenty-three stories in The Greatest Gujarati Stories Ever Told represent some of the finest short fiction
in Gujarati literature. Selected and edited by translator and writer Rita Kothari, this collection features
established literary masters such as K. M. Munshi, Dhumketu, Himanshi Shelat, Dalpat Chauhan, Nazir
Mansuri, and Mona Patrawalla, as well as accomplished new voices such as Panna Trivedi, Abhimanyu
Acharya, Raam Mori, and others.
In K. M. Munshi's epistolary 'A Letter', a childbride is worked to her death as she yearns for her husband's
affection; in Neerav Patel's 'Creamy Layer', the politicized, urban, and upwardly mobile Mr and Mrs
Vaghela must confront the deep chasm that has grown between them and their family in the village;
in Panna Trivedi's 'Maajo', the story's eponymous young narrator longs for butter-soft skin and a Shah
Rukh-like glance from a young man on the train; in 'Saubhagyavati: The Fortunate Wife', Dwiref explores
the selfish and oppressive nature of marital sex; in 'A Drop of Blood' Jayant Khatri looks at how violent
acts engender more violence; Mona Patrawalla explores the tribal region of the Dangs and paints a hair raising picture of the violent forms of power wielded by the Parsi landlords there in 'The Black Horse'; in
Dashrath Parmar's 'Nandu', the narrator struggles to hide his caste in the face of insistent questions; in
'Jumo Bhishti' by Dhumketu, we see the wonderful bond between Jumo and his beloved buffalo, Venu;
and in Abhimanyu Acharya's 'Chunni', a young woman, Shaili, navigates the world of dating in a city
far away from home-these and other stories in the collection are passionate, profound, and timeless,
showcasing a range of styles and offering a variegated and singular picture of Gujarat.
