The span of the book is so wide that we had to leave out some great people. The book gives you a sampling of some of the best writing. My favourite is the first story, Rebati by Fakir Mohan Senapati, translated by KK Mohapatra. In the stories written in English, Ruskin Bond's The Prospect of Flowers is so poignant. It has been difficult to get good translations from languages like Nepali, Dogri, Bodo and Santhali. Also, in certain languages there are no real translators into English. When it comes to translations, any translator who is capable and confident is half the author of the story. We are fortunate to be able to use the English language. Even now, after 230 years, there are people who say it is a foreign language. Now, it's part of your life, country, ethos!"

AJ Thomas, editor, 100 Indian Stories, talks to Manjula Narayan on the Books & Authors podcast about short fiction in Indian languages, the key role of translation, Indian after-modernism, and the future literatures of emerging languages

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