Sometimes, we feel nostalgic about the times that we had lived years ago. People who live in villages have different life course and often carry a kind of innocence. Some try their best to make their both ends meet and some others long for modern and better lives in cities. But their viability is far away from today's modern and technological world.

'Tales from Bengal' is something like a treasure of such entity which is comprised of nine short stories, all set in the land of Bengal. The stories are set to inspire people to think about villagers who struggle to make their ends meet. The storyline of every tale is perfect in itself that reflects true situations. Readers may find themselves roaming somewhere in the stories while going through the lives of characters.

The stories have various pragmatic points to be focused upon:

Characters are beautifully depicted bringing forth issues that they face on a regular basis, thereby creating a degree of authenticity around them. Many characters deal with muddles which are often ignored by the people living in the cities but these are of great significance for poor villagers. All the stories are well-woven with a sequence of events falling in a crisp manner that makes for great engrossing reading. 

Every story has a sensitive and emotional content and today, when we have loads of books with urban backgrounds, this book might be a great experience for readers, as it would give them a fresh outlook in to the village life and also enable them to get a sneak-peak into the lives of villagers and their innocence. Readers might discern peace and tranquility while brushing out the stories as every scene happens to be enacted before their own eyes. All the stories have the caliber to hump the readers to the end leaving impressions to keep thinking over the characters. 

Each story is unique in itself which is enough to leave imprints on readers' minds and touching their hearts. Some stories that touched me a lot are ‘Anomaly’, ‘Ratan’s Ma’, ‘The Abstainer’ and ‘The Quack’. 

Use of local words and phrases had really increased the appeal of the narrative. Vocabulary is rich and polished which is enough to indicate author Sourish Roy’s matured literary skills.

The author's command over language is perceptible. Some inspirational sentences are substantial that might be helpful to the readers at different times. The theme chosen is really enticing and narration is appreciable. The book cover is striking encapsulated effectively the content of the book.

I loved reading the book. I would like to recommend the book to the readers who like to read short stories especially based upon the nuances of everyday life.

My rate the book 4.5/5 *