Namaste Trump And Other Stories

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The short story "Namaste Trump" begins in a seemingly ordinary domestic setting, where a servant from the hinterlands faces exploitation by an upwardly mobile urban family. As the nation celebrates Trump's visit amid the pandemic, the narrative evolves into a haunting prophecy. This theme continues through a series of stories exploring fractured lives in small-town India over the past fifty years. In "Night of Happiness," entrepreneur Anil Mehrotra, aided by his quiet and enigmatic lieutenant, Ahmed, uncovers a shocking truth about his trusted aide during a stormy night, leading him to question whether he will find madness or something worse. In three linked stories—"The Corridor," "The Ubiquity of Riots," and "Elopement"—the tensions of living as a liberal Muslim in 1970s and 1980s India are examined through the eyes of an adolescent, highlighting the isolation and violence that ensue. The narrator reappears in "Olden Friends are Golden," reflecting on belonging and exclusion within the context of WhatsApp. "Scam" presents a crime that reveals the victim as the perpetrator, while "Shadow of a Story" brings violence back to a village family in an unimaginable form. "The Thing with Feathers" explores hope that teeters on madness, and "The Last Installment" portrays a father and son trapped in a corporate struggle, capturing their desperation in breathless prose. This collection is a poignant exploration of precarious lives in