After being unemployed for four years, it s hard to smile. Tuitions brought in some money but the damn inflation was wreaking havoc with my monthly budget. Loans had mounted to dangerous levels and I had become desperate to do something... Urban Shots: Bright Lights is a kaleidoscopic collection of short stories, at once delightful, intense and disturbing, each narrated with an honesty of voice that peels off the layers of contemporary India to reveal its core. In the humorous Maemi Menace, Sathyavati racks her brains to escape an overbearing elderly lady; the charming Good Morning Nikhil follows a baby s antics around the house; and in the curiously touching Hot Masala , Mr Kamath hatches a wicked plan to show his family better days. Filled with compassion, wisdom and gentle humor, the stories in this anthology are as much about urban India as they are about the flawed people who inhabit it.