The odour of dreams: Vikas Dhoot reviews Rochelle Potkar’s ‘Bombay Hangovers’

Stories that take you close to the sights, sounds and sweat levels unique to Bombay

This is the first collection of short stories from an accomplished poet, with all but one story revolving around India’s city of dreams. Rochelle Potkar, who grew up in Kalyan on the edges of Bombay, which is part of what is now known as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, demonstrates her intimate connect to the city’s denizens with an easy verve. From the bylanes of Kamathipura to the Ambarnath fast local, from the hopeful textile mill employee of 1980s’ Bombay now serving as a security guard in the very malls that have replaced the mills and become the cemeteries of the aspirations of thousands of mill workers, to the “humid passion” with which Flora Fountain’s second-hand booksellers operate, places and people are brought alive with Potkar’s skilful keyboard strokes. (Stay up to date on new book releases, reviews, and more with The Hindu On Books newsletter. )