A collection of highly charming and idiosyncratic stories about the emotional 'landscape' of the subcontinent as seen through the eyes of an expat visitor.

A beggar girl struggling her way out in this big, bad world helplessly hoping for a benevolent hand, a housewife for whom marriage has lost its meaning long back and she is only carrying the habit of it now, a young girl who wishes to bring quality education to her illiterate village folks, an orphan who roots for her true identity in the child she is yet to birth, a village tea seller who wishes to become a famous actor in Bombay. 'Temple Classroom and Other Stories' is a collection of various facets that form our lives and the lives around us. These are the stories that were written over a period of 2 years in buses, trains and metros…on laptop, mobile and computer. Some of these tales were written from the myriads of experiences that life threw at the author and some are figments of her imagination, borne out of its various impressions.

Eminent writer Chandrakanta's writing's encompass both socio-economic and political situa- tions as they have repercussions on human life. She concentrates on the value system and humanism. Her writings include problems and ques- tions of identity of women and the less privileged, the effect of globali- sation, broken relationships and clashes between inner realities, hopes and dreams of people with outer harsh realities of the system. 'The Orioles are Back'&'Abbu had said' stories show case the human values. The effect & repercussions caused by militancy is portrayed in stories 'The black Snow', 'The Voice, 'The dispossessed' & 'Gasha Koul' Old age issues in changing times are dealt with philosophically in 'Exile' 'The dream of roses' and 'Rights for the departed' show the mirror to corruption in society. 'Amidst wrong people' is based on hopes, empathy and dreams of marginalised people. 'Lark in the heart' is based on aspirations and wish to connect with people dispassionately. Remaining stories like 'Thresh hold of justice' show the plight and sufferings of women suppressed under the societal superstitions. This collection of her stories has different shades and colours of society.

Open Book of Happy Memories (And Other Stories) as the title suggests is a compilation of random essays on a variety of subjects. Recent pandemic, impact of which lasted for more than three years unsettled our life. Most of the lifelines breaking, many of us, especially elders, found our life approaching a grinding halt, not only for health or economic reasons. Communication links got reduced to television and internet, as doors closed and even newspapers and magazines, bookstores and libraries were out of reach. To help those friends and relatives who were not tech-savvy or were not comfortable with routine social media interaction, I tried a shortcut through a consolidated daily personal message. The modern social media routes came in handy. Short essays which covered nostalgic memories and brief pieces on current issues became part of my daily messages. This book is a compilation of select pieces from those stories and select essays written by me during recent years. As these were written in different contexts and at different points in time, there are bound to be some repetitions.

A collection of superb stories by Sigrun Srivastav