And in the delightful story ‘Uncle Worry’, Uncle Chien worries when his daughter Pi Moi forgets to call him: he worries that she and her husband, Mohamed, have had a falling out. He worries when Pi Moi does call, for she must be fighting with Mohamed, otherwise why would she call?

From crumbling shops in Chinatown to decaying tanneries in Tangra, Kwai-Yun Li’s The Last Dragon Dance: Chinatown Stories, exposes us to the life of the little-known Chinese community in Calcutta. While the arrival of the Chinese in India abounds in legends, the mass exodus of this dwindling community is not as romantic: political and economic upheavals have forced them to abandon their home.

Even though theirs is so much a story of assimilation and syncretism—growing up in 1950s’ Calcutta one never paid much attention to which customs were Indian or Chinese—the Chinese have often felt the brunt of their foreignness. The rift between Mao and Chiang Kai Shek led to the deportment and imprisonment of hundreds of Maoist sympathizers.

This collection gives voice to such concerns without being overtly sentimental or sensational; Li never fails to see the humour in the idiosyncrasies of her community. These inspired-from-life stories wonderfully capture the mood of the time with unassuming grace.

‘Kwai-Yun Li’s debut collection . . . about being Chinese in 1950s India, proves her a natural story-teller’—Tehelka

Fiction
Rs 199

Read more in Penguin

NEXT DOOR: STORIES

Jahnavi Barua

In eleven superbly crafted stories Jahnavi Barua takes us into the private, individual worlds of a varied cast of characters and exposes the intricate mesh of emotions so often concealed under the façade of everyday lives. Innocent desires and furtive longings, the complexity of fierce love and the terrible consequences of its betrayal, simple aspirations that compel brave action, life’s startling reversals that reveal deep insecurities and yet pave the way for forgiveness and reconciliation—these are just some of the themes played out in these remarkably nuanced snapshots of life. Predominantly set in the verdant, politically charged landscape of Assam, yet constantly transcending the particular, the stories in Next Door are unerringly human. Subtle and evocative in their telling, they mark the introduction of a highly accomplished voice.

‘Filled with deft descriptions, wrenching surprises and a deep understanding of what it means to be human, this first collection by Jahnavi Barua is worthy of a careful read’—Chitra Lekha Banerjee Divakaruni

‘Like the Brahmaputra, Jahnavi Barua’s stories are rich, full and flow with ease, with sudden startling glimpses of turbulence under the placid surface. A powerful and confident voice’—Shashi Deshpande

‘Jahnavi Barua’s stories are charged with affection for a landscape and an understanding of how it enters the human patterns of loving and living. A wonderful and moving book’—Anjum Hasan

Fiction
Rs 250