The Homecoming and Other Stories

The book deals with situations, personalities, and events following the writer’s return to his hometown, Calcutta (Kolkata), after a prolonged period of absence, and recounts his observations, some in retrospect, of the changes that have taken place since he left. The author is not given to mushy sentimentalism. It is, in many ways, a critique of the Bengali psyche and the demographic changes that have affected the way of life of the average citizen seen from the perspective of an individual born into privilege. Among other things, the book examines the man/woman relationship and provides interesting cameos of the writer’s perceptions of Indian womanhood and, in general terms, the truths that he holds dear to his heart. The book is divided into five chapters, including some amusing anecdotes.