About the Book

TWELVE SHORT STORIES FROM THE CROSSWORD PRIZE-WINNING WRITER OF SEVENTEEN, THE SICKLE AND MAHANADI.
Haunted by the gruesome death of his subordinate, a newly promoted superintendent of police develops the compulsive habit of washing his hands whenever confronted with blood or death. Despite relentless exploitation, a young girl working in a silk factory returns to the heat chamber a place designed to kill both silkworms and workers. Like the lands fallen victim to the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the wife of a Narmada Bachao Andolan activist principled and compassionate on the outside is slowly drowning in the deluge of his abuse and hypocrisy.
Anita Agnihotri s stories are a masterclass in empathy and precision, as well as urgent demonstrations of her ability to make literature from life. Few writers have lived and documented the extremes of existence in India as she has. As an IAS officer, she served in towns and cities across the country, and in each case, she made it a point to go to the people whose welfare she was entrusted with. It is no surprise, then, that her writing opens a window into lives often overlooked workers in remote outposts, families fractured by circumstances and individuals navigating poverty and displacement.
What makes Agnihotri a writer for and of our times is the deftness with which she balances unflinching social critique with lyrical tenderness. Her stories are not mere imagined narratives they are acts of witness, compelling us to see, feel and remember.

About the Author

Anita Agnihotri is a Bengali writer. She has authored seventy books of poetry, short stories, novels and essays. Her works have been translated into several Indian languages, as well as English. She is the recipient of various literary awards, including The Economist Crossword Book Award (2011) for the translated volume of stories Seventeen, along with Arunava Sinha. Her other recent works translated into English include Mahanadi, The Sickle and Mahuldiha Days. She was a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for over three decades.

About the Translator

Arunava Sinha translates classic, modern and contemporary fiction, non-fiction and poetry from Bengali into English, as well as from English into Bengali. He also translates from Hindi into English and Bengali. To date, a