URBAN SHOTS: BRIGHT LIGHTS
EDITED BY PARITOSH UTTAM
GREY OAK WESTLAND
Urban shots Is a collection of short stories set in contemporary urban backdrop, by various known and unknown authors. This anthology offers an insight into the minds of various interesting characters , characters that probably live next door.
The silent, submissive wife who one day lashes out on her husband. the insecure pot-bellied boy who is easily fooled by a pretty girl who steals his iPhone, the unpopular girl who sneaks out of her house to go to a party, the freshly recruited MBA pass out who buys his own products to meet his monthly sales target, the shrewd old retiree who has a problem with everyone in the world who is happy, the 27 year old who is infatuated to a 6 feet tall girl he meets in a park, the boy who knows too much about the extra marital affairs of his parents.The idea of the book is to represent urban complexes from minor to major ones, however insignificant they may seem on the outside.
The book consists of 29 short stories by 21 authors. It is not surprising that some of the authors are very young. Some, who may be older or much older, have neither appeared in print or have done so only very rarely. However, these writers are present on the internet ,some of them as prominently popular bloggers.
Many of the stories have a psychological bent in them and the characters are delineated in a nuanced psychological style, which nevertheless baits into a story . A variety of innovative techniques are used in the psychological narratives, all of them displaying features which form one or the other element of modernism.
“Amul” by Arvind Chandrasekhar , the story of a young boy with a deeply troubled childhood, “Hot Pants” by Arefa Tehsin , the story of a guilt-stricken teenage girl who goes to a party wearing a pair of shorts secretly against the will of her mother, “The Weeping Girl” by Kunal Dhakalia, story of new-age thugs are probably the best reads of this book.
