Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780143068303
Pages: 165
Price: 199 INR

‘Crowded Rooms‘ is an anthology of nine short stories by upcoming Indian author Prem Nath. ‘Crowded Rooms‘, as the name suggests, looks at the minute aspects of urban lives. The stories are essentially urban, served efficiently with immense creativity and imagination of the author. Prem Nath, a veteran in the advertising industry in Mumbai, expresses his insane imagination in each of the stories. They remind you of the influence of another Indian author, Rana Dasgupta, in the way the author has woven his stories. At times, you tend to wonder how much one can stretch the reality with one’s imagination and yet remain effective and true with the readers. While few of the stories may have gone overboard that way, the others have managed to maintain the balance and impress the readers.
While contemporary Indian literature may have been overburdened by every Tom and Dick coming out with novels with their own life stories to tell, ‘Crowded Rooms‘, the anthology, is definitely different from the regular lot, in every way. It is fresh, presents new perspectives and are more enjoyable than most of the paperbacks from the Indian authors found in the market.
Prem Nath, the author, moves the reader with his witty comments in between abstract conversations among the protagonists, in the different stories. His usage of contemporary English is fine, restrained and they hit the bulls eyes more than often you would have expected. While not many will be able to connect their own lives with the urban madness that the stories portray, but they will smile to themselves while finishing the book, and praise the author for coming out with such a mature presentation.

Overall Rating: 7.5/10

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