By the Sabarmati

Twenty-two extraordinary stories from the lives of women we have always known What happens when women decide to shed their inhibitions and speak out about their deepest feelings? What stories lie behind their closed doors in the slums and pols of Ahmedabad? This sparkling collection tells us about the dreams and aspirations, the victories and defeats of women we have met every day—on the streets, at home, in our neighbourhoods. In simple unadorned prose Esther David recounts the stories of Maya Desai, tormented by the knowledge of her beauty and driven to suicide by a world which refuses to recognize her true self; of Vesti, who meets an unlikely saviour after being branded as a witch; of Amina, who never steps beyond the threshold of her house, but when her family begins to fall apart, proves to be a tower of strength; and of Vidya, the wife of an itinerant performer, who comes across a strange apparition in the course of a somnolent afternoon. There are young women and old, struggling against disappointment, failed love and the death of near ones. At times funny, at times disturbing, these stories are a testament to their heroic and moving endeavour to rise above their limitations.