NO PRESENTS PLEASE

A sampler of work by a veteran Indian writer with a talent for exposing the irony and humor in everyday lives.

All of these stories, culled from Kaikini’s work between 1986 and 2006, are set in Mumbai, but the breadth of their subject matter speaks both to the diversity of the metropolis and his reach as a writer. He can be intimate, as with the young man in “Interval” planning to run away with his girlfriend or the man in “Partner” thrust into caring for his suddenly ill roommate. He has a fine grasp of twists and comedy: The picture framer in “Unframed” is torn over whether he should lend abandoned family portraits (“like prisoners no one comes to visit”) to a theater that wants them as props while the steed in “Dagadu Parab’s Wedding Horse” has gone loose, calamitously unraveling the relationship between two brothers and the man who loaned the animal. And he can tell sweeping stories within tight confines: In “Water,” two men at personal crossroads spend the night together in a taxi when a massive storm drenches the city, and the young woman in “Mogri’s World” gets a crash course in city life while working at a restaurant. Kaikini’s heroes are usually stymied in their efforts to improve their stations. Still, the mood he conjures is often on the optimistic side of ambiguity, exemplified by the poor couple in the closing title story that strives to select the best invitations for their wedding. Niranjana’s translation from the Kannada thoughtfully weaves native phrases with their translations, removing the need for a glossary and immersing readers in Kaikini’s world. His style and themes will have a familiar ring for Western audiences; there are echoes of Jhumpa Lahiri and George Saunders. But his vision of a bustling city, his sense of its drama and magical moments, is his own.

A welcome introduction of a commanding writer to a wider audience.