New Delhi, January 5 (IANS): How free are women to make their own choices in the circumstances in which they find themselves? How do ordinary citizens get caught up in communal divisions and migrant workers face desperation during the pandemic? These are some of the questions posed by the poignant and thought provoking stories in this book.

Located in various parts of India and abroad, “Ganga’s Choice and Other Stories” (Niyogi Books), this collection of 15 stories by Vaasanthi, one of the well-known writers of India and translated from the Tamil original, powerfully captures slices of life to showcase the courage and strength of ordinary people.

A young woman ridiculed as a monster chooses to live her life on her own terms; women from different backgrounds struggle against gender roles defined by rigid and oppressive social conventions; two migrant workers – rendered unemployed during confinement – attempt to return to their village and maintain a bond of solidarity, despite different religious identities; a Sikh farmer living near the Line of Control loses his family to cross-border shelling but cares for the orphaned son of his neighbor from another community.

The stories reflect the breadth and depth of Vaasanthi’s writing and unveil how humanity redeems the individual and gives hope, even in the midst of adversity.

“The stories are about real life experiences and real characters that I have met – especially women, who inspired me and pushed me to talk about it, how they deal with injustices in their social situation in the best way. unique, ”Vaasanthi said.

The stories, according to renowned author K. Satchidanandan, “surprise and delight the reader with their thematic diversity and the liveliness and liveliness of its characters drawn from different backgrounds. These 15 short stories are likely to give even to a reader who does not knows his many worlds a clear idea of ​​his narrative talent and his deep understanding of human situations and the transformations of attitudes and worldviews that mark the generational changes in the subcontinent. It is a pure joy to read the stories. Vaasanthi stories in this representative collection “.

Vaasanthi is a leading Tamil and English writer, journalist and columnist. She has published 30 novels, 6 short stories, 4 volumes of journalistic articles and 4 travel reports in Tamil over the past 40 years.

She was editor-in-chief of the Tamil edition of India Today for 10 years. His articles have appeared in major Indian newspapers and magazines. His works have been translated into Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, English, Norwegian, Czech and Dutch.

Two of his novels have been adapted into Malayalam films. She is the recipient of several awards in Tamil Nadu, including the award for best screenwriter, the award for best novel for “Ammani”. She received the UP Sahitya Sansthan Prize and the Punjab Sahitya Akademi Prize for her novels translated into Hindi and English respectively. Now a freelance writer and journalist, she lives in Delhi.