Tales of Kurla Station

A collection of short stories illustrated with drawings that attempt to portray fourteen anecdotes through the eyes of the writer. The tales build on tiny deeds and occurrences that showcase qualities that define us as human. Tales of happiness in sadness, joy in suffering, hope within despair, kindness, cruelty, love and hate; inherent aspects that prevail in those that lead life and drudge on the unvarnished veneers of society. The incidents take place on one of the oldest stations...
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A collection of short stories illustrated with drawings that attempt to portray fourteen anecdotes through the eyes of the writer. The tales build on tiny deeds and occurrences that showcase qualities that define us as human. Tales of happiness in sadness, joy in suffering, hope within despair, kindness, cruelty, love and hate; inherent aspects that prevail in those that lead life and drudge on the unvarnished veneers of society. The incidents take place on one of the oldest stations of India and the famed local trains that have plied through it for over a hundred years. The writer appears in each, variously; as observer, protagonist or simply a listener. He recounts each tale with no presumption of the background to each nor any knowledge of their conclusion: This being the essential aspect of happenstance on a railway station. The effort is to engage the reader to draw their own inferences and make up a premise, drawing from their own experience or knowledge of the human condition. To ones that have had the dubious fortune of having travelled the trains of Mumbai, the stories easily relate to their personal observations and compels them to ponder. For readers who have not, the stories endeavours to kindle their intrigue and reflect upon each. Yet, the station, its trains and its travellers are not the only layers that the writer has described. The stories are a short discourse on societal conditions, human nature and life.