The translations of Bhupen Khakhar’s short stories come as a pleasant surprise. Here is a fine storyteller who keeps things exquisitely simple. His characters live in tenements. He empathises with those who ride scooters and are taken for a ride. A couple has a written contract stipulating how often they’ll have sex. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, if you must know. All that Maganbhai touches, from making fire-crackers to exporting khakras, is a disaster. A housewife goes bananas over the loss of a vadki or what you call a katori. Some of the stories take a surrealist turn, somewhat like the author’s paintings. A man decides to walk on all fours to suppress his desire for foreign soap. Khakhar can be very funny.
Publishers Katha could use some tips on syntax and layouts but that’s another story.
