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This is a collection of fourteen short stories by Paramita Satpathy. These stories are full of characters that conceal their true persona under a veneer of a false confidence who are then are driven to seek a state of euphoria, releasing these dormant passions in unguarded moments.

We have characters like Maya, whose life seems to upend the moment spots appear on her body. On the other hand, for her best friend Veena, life seems to be most sorted. Everyone seems to pity Maya, and she longs to be included, to belong. Yet as the years progress, it is Maya who has created a stable life for herself, while Veena is left wondering where she went wrong in life.

There is also Babula, the orphan, who has to bear with whatever abuse Bata Sahu throws at him, in order to survive, and his struggle to break free from it. Prachi, the bride-to-be, who discovers her fiancé’s true animalistic nature; and Ranjita, the new bride who becomes the ultimate pay-off for her in-laws’ greed. For some protagonists, it’s the societal shackles they need to break out from; for others it is their own closest relations that compel them to take a bold step towards self-realization.

Contents: Introduction by Bikram Das. 1. Wild Jasmine. 2. The Unborn Daughter’s Story. 3. The Elixir of Love. 4. The Girl from a Foreign Land. 5. The Nowhere Nest. 6. Her Best Friend Jaya.7. A Real Diamond!. 8. Jungle Lore. 9. A Fable for the Times. 10. Children’s Day. 11. The Ultimate Pay-off. 12. A Shadow in the Mirror. 13. The N-Club. 14. Colours of Loneliness. Glossary.