Bhalobasa Chaturdashpadi by Aparajita Dasgupta [Hardcover]

These stories originate from a deep urge to capture memories—to peel away the layers of forgetfulness and retrieve the simple lives of ordinary people from the depths of the past. Some of these stories are set in the decades following Partition, while others belong to the very recent present.

At times, elderly men and women, through the twists of fate, find themselves transported back to their early youth or adolescence, looking upon their lost days with tender affection or quiet detachment. At other times, marginalized individuals in the present stand face-to-face with the looming sword of collective crisis, confronting the harsh realities of an uncolored, barren canvas.

Woven into these narratives are the joys and sorrows of everyday life, moments of fulfillment and emptiness, emotions and silence. Like delicate sketches formed by connecting the dots of human existence, these stories capture the fluidity of life. They explore the oscillation between relationships and isolation, carrying within them the essence of love—or the longing for love.

It is through this bridge of dreamlike love that life finds its meaning. Each of the fourteen stories in this collection is, at its core, a story of love.