Ghungar Kathi

This collection of 14 stories offers a rich diversity of themes. There is a strong rural flavour, along with sorrow, pain, and friendship. The stories portray different forms of friendship—between two men belonging to different religions, between a girl from a princely family and a boy from an ordinary household, and among schoolchildren. These varied expressions of friendship are truly captivating.

There is also the story of a mother who longs to educate her daughter and goes through great hardship to ensure that she receives an education.

The details in the stories set against a rural backdrop are remarkably authentic, as are those depicting life in the chawls of Mumbai. The author succeeds in bringing each setting vividly to life.

The same is true of the dialogues. Whether they are conversations between school-age friends, between husbands and wives in rural communities, or between fathers and sons, the characters speak with such naturalness that it feels as though they are talking right in front of us.

— Neelima Borwankar