Kahaaniyaan Nai Purani/ Nana Ronger Golpo

The only poet to ever be hyphenated with Tagore is nearly not as well-known for his short stories. 'Rakkhushi' combines the lilting, rustic cadences of the speech of the Bagdis of Birbhum with the artful sophistry of Robert Browning's crazed dramatic monologuists. This is twenty minutes of pure reading heaven, and I hope it makes you want to pick up the text for yourself.

Leela Majumdar's stories are all kinds of delightful. Though she is best known for her children's writing, she was equally adept at churning out the occasional dissection of adult emotions. This one is a simple, slice-of-life story to make you smile on a dull afternoon. Happy listening! :)

In a tale for our time and a tale for every time, Basu explores the eternal human condition: that of the best in us trying to ward off the worst. We are people above all else. A shared greeting is all it takes to convey that to another, he seems to say.

A one-of-a-kind gem that could only have flowed out of the inimitable Nabaneeta Dev Sen's pen. Published way ahead of its time in the early 1980s, 'Baap Re Baap' is a supremely original take on the experience of gender transitioning, in that it manages to be tongue-in-cheek, unflinching, sympathetic and unabashed all at once. There's no way you wouldn't enjoy it.

The greatest Bangla poet since Tagore, yes, but also the most beguiling writer of prose. Each time you read a line of Jibanananda's short stories, you re-examine your ideas of sentence structure and word association. You are forced to question your own abilities of comprehension. And yet, this man isn't difficult to read at all. All he wants to do is to show you a new way of expressing yourself, a fresh route to arrive at wonder. What a man, what a poet, what a teacher.

A poet writes a short story. Read it as an extended metaphor, or make of it what you will.

The first man of one of Bengal's most illustrious families, Upendrakishore contributed much more to Bangla prose than just the Tuntuni stories. Listen in for a story of exploration and experience.

A bittersweet tale about writing, writers and priorities. While the story barely extends beyond a single conversation between two characters, Bose manages to casually infuse it with the flavours of 1930s Calcutta. Happy listening!

Modern-day minstrel Nazrul imbued his short stories with a dense, mellifluous lyrical quality. Poet-like, the narrator of this story hankers after and is imprisoned by the quest for an ideal. His quest is endless and inescapable.

Love, lust, fertility and travel -- nearly all of Buddhadeb Guha's pet themes make it to this story. Happy listening!

What does it take to keep challenging society from your grave? It takes to be Mahasweta Devi. This work of historical fiction transports us to a time when nothing, not even the emergence of a great reformer, could change the lives of India's millions. Little has changed today, and true to form, Mahasweta gives us a story of and for all time.

Nobody dissects the mind of the modern Bengali middle class like Bani Basu does. Here's a beautiful story from her about a very modern-day problem. Hope you enjoy it!

A very weekly magazine-esque short story from author-civil servant Agnihotri, known better for her gritty tales about India's most marginalised. Hope this story lights up your day like springtime.

A translation of one of Ray's best-known and most confounding short stories. Though the master auteur liked to indulge his pulpy side in stories like this one, he still manages to leave us with so many questions. Happy listening!

Sharp humour and a characteristic earthy flavour spice up this Siraj story. Happy listening!