Ajit Chaudhuri

Tales of Love, Lust and Longing Ajit Chaudhuri

This selection of seven novelettes has one commonality - it depicts a man's view of a man's world. Otherwise, it is varied - the novelettes are set in rural ('Parita') and urban (mostly Delhi) locations in India and abroad ('The Double Bore' is set in Canada and also describes Afghanistan); they describe relationships with spouses and lovers ('The Thunderbolt', 'The Obsession'), with one's children ('Parita'), with sports ('Lalaji'), between friends ('The Friday Evening Get-Together'), and those of a more temporary nature ('The King of Lust'); and they are written over a period of 25 years (and retain the original writing style, with minor editions for modern day political correctness). The novelettes provide glimpses of an emerging India at and around the turn of the century, with its rising middle class, its changing attitudes, and its conflict between tradition and modernity, as well as the pathways by which young (and not so young) people negotiate these.