Exploring Short Stories

This is part of the short story collection 'The lone ranger and tonto fistfight in heaven'. This short story traces the journey of a native american in classroom spaces and the discrimination and stereotype he/she is bound to encounter.

This excerpt is part of a novel written by the Turkish writer, Orhan Pamuk. This excerpt is a small chapter where the main protagonist lists out his struggles in his love life, and life in general. In the midst, however, he also seeks to find peace within him and his life situation.

Hi so this is like a departure from the usual kinds of stories that are read in this channel. I chose this excerpt because it questions the origin and history of your name, and your identity!

This short story is written by the famous Nobel Laurette from Columbia, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. While listening, pay attention to the elements of 'magical realism' which his writing is most associated with. The key themes that manifest in this short story are moral values like compassion contradicting the nature of human beings such that we forget about the distinction between fair and unfair methods of expression.

This author belongs to Ghana and gives a postcolonial dilemna of Ghanian women and many like her. The key words to notice are 'wig', 'revolution' and 'beauty contest'. This book is part of her collection 'No Sweetness here and other stories' borrowed from the Internet Archive.

Bessie Head is a postcolonial writer from Africa who lived in exile in various parts of other countries in Africa. This story is from the country of Botswana. The major themes that surround this story is helplessness in front of a lost cause.

This is an English translation of a short story from Partition Literature, from the lands of Hindustan. The major themes to look out for: displacement, madness as a trope, partition as an event and ordinary lives.

It is an American short story, written in 1916. The major themes that manifest in the reading of this story are isolation, loneliness, alienation, fear and connection. This short story is read by Arun Jose, a student of Delhi University.

This short story interrogates themes like the anxiety of living in unfamiliar spaces, the change in the city and village spaces and modernity's obsession with a mechanised lifestyle.