Some of the world's finest short fiction has originated in and continues to flow from the cities, villages, rivers, forests and plains of Bengal. This selection features 21 of the very best stories from the region.

Here, the listener will find one of Rabindranath Tagore's most revered stories, 'The Kabuliwallah', in a new translation; memorable studies of ordinary people from Tarashankar and Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay; the iconic Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's wrenching study of Bengali society, 'Mahesh'; as well as over a dozen other astounding stories by some of the greatest practitioners of the form - Buddhadeva Bose, Ashapurna Debi, Premendra Mitra, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mahasweta Devi, Sunil Gangopadhyay and Nabarun Bhattacharya, among others. These are stories of anger, loss, grief, disillusionment, magic, politics, trickery, humour and the darkness of mind and heart. They reimagine life in ways that make them unforgettable.