Sonia Faleiro

Another one of my good friends, the literary critic Chandrahas Choudhury, makes his debut as a novelist in a couple of weeks, with Arzee the Dwarf (Harper Collins, Rs 325)--'the story of the troubles of a very short and very bitter man in a very big and very frightening city, Mumbai'. 

Those of you who have read Hash's work will know he needs no recommendations, his work speaks for itself. But do read this exclusive excerpt, out in this morning's Mint newspaper, and decide for yourself.

'As Arzee went skipping down the staircase, he stopped on the first floor to peep into the corridor, but there was only a cat there, prowling with its tail raised. Arzee grinned and went on his way. All the way down he could hear the clamour, and when he arrived on the narrow street, he found himself swamped by shrieking schoolchildren in their whites and navy blues, hurtling past after being ejected from the gates of the school at the other end of the street, just by where he lived. The sight of children always dismayed Arzee. Although they were no more than ten or eleven, they were all taller than him. Their smooth cheeks seemed to be laughing at his stubbled blue, their growing limbs flexing and showing off in front of his stopped ones. Their curious looks disconcerted him—they couldn’t be allowed to roam like this! He stopped till the head of the storm had passed, leaving trails of stragglers licking icecreams, trading marbles, or flying paper rockets. He walked past these last ones, meeting their stares with stares till they looked away. In the grey sky, clouds seemed to be idly grazing like sheep, and the rumbling from behind them was curiously soothing.