In this emotionally charged story by Samrat Upadhyay, a divorced woman tries desperately to prevent her schizophrenic adult son from self-harming or harming others. When she discovers that he has bought a gun and possibly joined Maoist rebels, she seeks help from his father. In the process, she befriends his pregnant, emotionally overwrought new wife who is being shunned by her family. As soon as the baby is born, the new wife does a runner and the husband follows, “temporarily” leaving the baby in her care. Themes include motherhood and motherly love, mental illness, loneliness and isolation, insensitivity, anxiety, superstition. More…
Il Colore Ritrovato
This story by Mark Helprin explores the theme “the price of fame”. An ageing impresario reflects on how he transformed a contented young laundry worker into the greatest opera singer in the world. He has just come across an innocent young street performer who could be even better, and faces a dilemma. Although his first discovery has found fame and fortune, he is unhappy about how it affected her. Should he immediately launch his excited new find into stardom, or insist that she takes time to consider the consequences? Other themes include entrepreneurship, responsibility, regret, compassion, redemption, art and beauty. More…
The Verger
This story by W Somerset Maugham is about man named Albert who has worked hard as a church official for 16 years. When a new vicar learns Albert cannot read or write, he tells him that he must leave the job. Rather than go home immediately, Albert walks the streets trying to think of what he can do. During the walk, he decides to open a business. He soon proves that you don’t need a good education to be a success. All you need is the ability to think creatively, and the courage to back your ideas. More…
Looking for Mr. Green
A major theme of this story by Saul Bellow is work ethic. Times are tough in 1930s Chicago. An intellectual white man starts a much-needed job delivering unclaimed welfare checks to people in a depressed black neighborhood. On his first day his younger supervisor implies that, as a city worker, he isn’t expected to “push too hard”. That’s not the way he works: he wants to do well for doing-well’s sake, and goes above and beyond in a quest to find the elusive Mr. Green. Other themes include poverty, race, suspicion, duty, tenacity, identity. More…
Real Food
In this story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the term real food means food that is traditional to a culture. In Nigeria, the staple traditional dish is a type of flour known as garri. The girl in the story feels sick when she eats “swallow” (small lumps of cooked garri dough dipped in soup). She complains that it makes her throat itch, which indicates she may be allergic to it. Although the girl’s educated mother is understanding and accommodates her eating preferences, less informed relatives see this as a sign that she has abandoned her culture. Themes: family, culture, identity. More…