In Search of the Indian Village: Stories and Reports captures the essence of rural India through the country’s finest short fiction, commentary, scholarship, and reportage. In ‘The Blue Umbrella’, Ruskin Bond weaves a heart-warming tale of friendship set in a quaint Himalayan village. ‘Seed’ by Mahasweta Devi is a searing account of the hierarchies of caste while Vijaydan Detha’s ‘Countless Hitlers’ describes a violent race for power on a village road. Through raw and clear-eyed reportage, P. Sainath presents a fascinating motley of characters from the countryside, amongst them a ‘man-eating’ landlord, illicit distillers, and organizers of cockfights. Amitava Kumar’s ‘The Rat’s Guide’ explores the ties between diet and identity in the heartland of Bihar. Taken together, the pieces in the anthology bring to the fore the complex and vast tapestry of lived experiences that make the Indian village.

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