What do you think?
Rate this book
Urban Shots: Crossroads
Edited by bestselling author, Ahmed Faiyaz, this anthology explores the conflict, chaos and confusion in the lives of interesting and colourful characters in Urban India. The reclusive kid with a beautiful bicycle; a migrant to Mumbai with Old Monk on his breath, trying to get off a Virar Fast at Borivali; the misunderstood watchman at the library who befriends a little girl;a playstation loving spoilt brat, who is smitten by his mathematics tutor; an old widower who longs for some intimacy with the opposite sex; a confused writer who has to choose between his wife and a seductress; the gargoyle who is the boss’s pet at a call centre; a mild-mannered doctor whose love for yoga puts him on breaking news; a project manager who hates handing out the pink slip; an emotionally scarred woman in the bazaars of Kamathipura; the baraat on a silent night in a one-horse town in Rajasthan; the neighbourhood didi with dark secrets of her own and a lot more...
Racy, compelling and heart rending stories by popular writers such as Pantosh Uttam, Reeti Gadekar, Sharath Komarraju, Malcolm Carvahlo, and a number of popular bloggers and debutant writers.
Racy, compelling and heart rending stories by popular writers such as Pantosh Uttam, Reeti Gadekar, Sharath Komarraju, Malcolm Carvahlo, and a number of popular bloggers and debutant writers.
228 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2012
5 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Ahmed Faiyaz
15 books60 followersAhmed Faiyaz grew up in Bangalore and now lives in Dubai.
He’s a strategist by profession, with a number of years in management consulting behind him. He’s a book and film addict, and a passionate writer. His first book, Love, Life & All That Jazz…, published in April 2010, remains a popular bestseller across major cities. His stories are also featured in the National Bestseller, Urban Shots
Grey Oak has recently released Another Chance, his second full-length novel, and is slated to release Down the Road, an anthology of 30 short stories he has co-edited, in April 2011. He is a founding member of Grey Oak Publishers and Grey Oak Foundation.
More on
www.ahmedfaiyaz.in and www.twitter.com/ahmedfaiyaz
He’s a strategist by profession, with a number of years in management consulting behind him. He’s a book and film addict, and a passionate writer. His first book, Love, Life & All That Jazz…, published in April 2010, remains a popular bestseller across major cities. His stories are also featured in the National Bestseller, Urban Shots
Grey Oak has recently released Another Chance, his second full-length novel, and is slated to release Down the Road, an anthology of 30 short stories he has co-edited, in April 2011. He is a founding member of Grey Oak Publishers and Grey Oak Foundation.
More on
www.ahmedfaiyaz.in and www.twitter.com/ahmedfaiyaz
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 1, 2012
What attracted me to this book was its title. Urban Shots totally lives up to its name, comprising 30 urban stories (by authors both, bestselling and debutante, and popular bloggers) about all kinds of people in urban India- a yoga loving doctor, a mysterious kid with a fancy bike, a security guard who befriends a little girl, the ordeal of a man trying to get off at Borivali from a Virar Fast in Bombay and similar stories about quirky people and those just like we see every day. People who’re either very similar or completely distinct, having their lives criss-crossing each other, mingling with the lives that are socially forbidden or with their soulmates after years of wait, hence, the subtitle- “Crossroads”.
The 30 stories differ with respect to the protagonists, their cultural, social and financial backgrounds, their troubles ranging from an overstuffed train to the demise of a close friend, and the final outcomes of their actions. Some are mysterious stories that remain a mystery even at the end, some are clear cut, some have cheerful anecdotes and some are totally depressing. The book’s a mix of all these genres and I would say I found that quite fair, since it would appeal to all kinds of people living in urban areas (or otherwise), who can relate to these stories, having seen or experienced similar situations themselves (or not. Even then, the stories are fascinating and the whole collection, commendable).
Almost all accounts have been simply narrated, with intense details that make the readers automatically visualize the situation and immediately feel connected, since we can easily relate to the situations that belong to a typical India. As I mentioned before, the stories are a combination of a variety of genres, such that you finish a sad story of a middle aged man and begin a cheerful incident about a little kid! This can work well for some readers who dislike monotony, but can be slightly irksome for some, since there are many fluctuations. ‘A breezy read’ would be apt for this book.
Recommended if you want to read about the actual India, like short stories, are an Urban Indian or looking for a light read!
The 30 stories differ with respect to the protagonists, their cultural, social and financial backgrounds, their troubles ranging from an overstuffed train to the demise of a close friend, and the final outcomes of their actions. Some are mysterious stories that remain a mystery even at the end, some are clear cut, some have cheerful anecdotes and some are totally depressing. The book’s a mix of all these genres and I would say I found that quite fair, since it would appeal to all kinds of people living in urban areas (or otherwise), who can relate to these stories, having seen or experienced similar situations themselves (or not. Even then, the stories are fascinating and the whole collection, commendable).
Almost all accounts have been simply narrated, with intense details that make the readers automatically visualize the situation and immediately feel connected, since we can easily relate to the situations that belong to a typical India. As I mentioned before, the stories are a combination of a variety of genres, such that you finish a sad story of a middle aged man and begin a cheerful incident about a little kid! This can work well for some readers who dislike monotony, but can be slightly irksome for some, since there are many fluctuations. ‘A breezy read’ would be apt for this book.
Recommended if you want to read about the actual India, like short stories, are an Urban Indian or looking for a light read!
August 3, 2012
First things first. Short stories, these definitely are not. These are more like Slices of Life blog posts.
With all the talk about blue ocean strategies, it is nice to see Grey Oak actually go out and create a market by sourcing popular bloggers. Grey Oak should, however, have pushed the authors out of their comfort zones by better editorial control and ensuring that the authors come up with content that is in line with the genre, intention and theme of the book. Instead, what we're left with is a set of random shots at short story writing that would fit as well, or as badly, into any of the other books in the Urban Shots series. The style is heavily cinema inspired and immaturely believes that heavy descriptions and an incessant use of adjectives somehow translates to a better, more poignant read.
Some of the authors are actually very good, as is obvious from their blogs, some of which I already follow. Some parts and passages are particularly thoughtful and touching too. But, like I said, the whole exercise feels more like a quick-fix solution for content rather than a sourcing start-point of budding authors.
Scroll down to the story "Hako" under "Excerpts from Urban Shots" in the following link http://www.greyoak.in/UrbanShots-Cros... and let me know if you weren't also left with a sense of "What was that all about?" at the end of it.
With all the talk about blue ocean strategies, it is nice to see Grey Oak actually go out and create a market by sourcing popular bloggers. Grey Oak should, however, have pushed the authors out of their comfort zones by better editorial control and ensuring that the authors come up with content that is in line with the genre, intention and theme of the book. Instead, what we're left with is a set of random shots at short story writing that would fit as well, or as badly, into any of the other books in the Urban Shots series. The style is heavily cinema inspired and immaturely believes that heavy descriptions and an incessant use of adjectives somehow translates to a better, more poignant read.
Some of the authors are actually very good, as is obvious from their blogs, some of which I already follow. Some parts and passages are particularly thoughtful and touching too. But, like I said, the whole exercise feels more like a quick-fix solution for content rather than a sourcing start-point of budding authors.
Scroll down to the story "Hako" under "Excerpts from Urban Shots" in the following link http://www.greyoak.in/UrbanShots-Cros... and let me know if you weren't also left with a sense of "What was that all about?" at the end of it.
June 25, 2016
This one immediately had my attention. Don't know if it was the cover page, the name or something else, but I had to read it. And I am glad to make that choice. Urban shots offers a bucket of life stories by various authors, authors you might not have heard of, but after reading this, would love to read more of their work. The book carries all kinds of faces that Urban India has. Collection of 30 short stories, some of which are happy, some are sad, some mysterious and some grey enough to leave you thinking.
Stories like Hako, Getting Off A Virar Fast At Borivali, Mindgames, Virtual Reality, Hunch etc are impact full enough to stay with you for a long long time. Urban Shots is about love, friendship, family, trust, deceit, hatred, fear, depression, longing and hope. All of it in a single book.
Read it to experience life.
Stories like Hako, Getting Off A Virar Fast At Borivali, Mindgames, Virtual Reality, Hunch etc are impact full enough to stay with you for a long long time. Urban Shots is about love, friendship, family, trust, deceit, hatred, fear, depression, longing and hope. All of it in a single book.
Read it to experience life.
February 29, 2012
A captivating collection of 30 stories by 26 new writers. The stories are based on characters from metros and cities.
As a reader, You won't regret spending on it. People from metro cities, you have every reason to rejoice in this book.
Some stories are quite good, some are very different from what you read usually, some are lyrical, some are silly and some are just trying to be stories.
PLUS: New writers, fresh stories. 30 urban stories in 150 rupees.
MINUS: Amateur style, heavily BOLLYWOOD inspired.
Stories to look forward to:
CROW'S FEAST, JUMP DIDI, PLUMMET, GETTING OFF A VIRAR FAST AT BORIVALI, PASTA LANE, PITY, TAINTED LOVE.
RATING: 3 / 5
GENRE: INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH
As a reader, You won't regret spending on it. People from metro cities, you have every reason to rejoice in this book.
Some stories are quite good, some are very different from what you read usually, some are lyrical, some are silly and some are just trying to be stories.
PLUS: New writers, fresh stories. 30 urban stories in 150 rupees.
MINUS: Amateur style, heavily BOLLYWOOD inspired.
Stories to look forward to:
CROW'S FEAST, JUMP DIDI, PLUMMET, GETTING OFF A VIRAR FAST AT BORIVALI, PASTA LANE, PITY, TAINTED LOVE.
RATING: 3 / 5
GENRE: INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH
May 19, 2012
Edited by Sneh Thakur. Grade: A
The Urban Shots is a short story series started by Grey Oak in association with Westland. Other books in the series are Urban Shots, Urban Shots: Crossroads and Urban Shots: Bright Lights. These books contain short stories by new writers and bloggers and then edited by a single author.
Urban Shots: The Love Collection had thirty one short stories by twenty seven authors and it is edited by Sneh Thakur. As the very name says it all, this one is an anthology of contemporary stories revolving about love. What is most refreshing about this collection is the novelty of these stories – they are not the typical boy met girl story. Of course there are men and women involved but the stories are not fairytale-ish or the run of the mill story for they are about very real people falling in and out of love. Readers will relate to most of the stories, and quite easily at that. The stories are not exactly love stories but they center around the little thing called love. Love is analysed from different perspectives and angles. The different modes of narrative in the book is another welcome feature; you never feel like you are reading the same book, each story is distinctly different from the other.
I have a mixed opinion about this collection; some stories are amazingly good, some just fine and some didn’t make any sense to me. My favourite author from the book has to be Ahmed Faiyaz, he is an amazing story teller and his stories do not fail to surprise and touch you in the innermost recesses of your heart. There are three stories written by him in the book, “Rishta”, “Coffee?” and “Strangers”. While the first is my absolute favourite, the second is moderately good, the last is a tad bit disappointing for I could not really agree with the way the story turned out. “Rishta” analyses the Indian marriage scenario very successfully. The portrayal of a woman being practical, not emotional; thinking about all the pros and cons before getting married, is very realistic. The end is very touching and comes as an expected surprise (yes, expected, for you might as well successfully guess what would happen in the end).
Other favourites from the book are-
Narendranath Mitra’s (translated by Arunava Sinha) “The Girlfriend” – A poignant story of an odd extra-marital relationship.
Hina Siddiqui’s “Making Out” – This is the editor’s pick from the book. Another very new perspective of love is brought in. The narrative is pleasant and flows like poetry.
Lipi Mehta’s “Twisted” – This story reminded me of the horrors of the Pune bakery blast. The end is much unexpected and it does make you go back to the start and read it again to find all the hints you missed in the first reading. The story is replete with hints and suggestions, a mark of a good short story.
Sangeeta Bandhopadhay’s (again translated by Arunava Sinha) “Sahana or Shamim” – revolving around the inner conflict of the central character, her ultimate submission to love is sketched beautifully.
Kailash Srinivasan’s “High Time”- is a totally hilarious portrayal of arranged marriages between distant relatives. This story gives the book its share of giggles and laughter.
Overall, the book makes a good option for a light reading during breaks, travel and bedtime. The stories are not too long and can be finished in a short time. Read it over a cup of coffee to satisfy your romance craving. The book gives a fresh sight into love and the different emotions attached with it – sympathy, jealousy, hatred, dissatisfaction and betrayal.
Originally reviewed at: www.the-vault.co.cc
The Urban Shots is a short story series started by Grey Oak in association with Westland. Other books in the series are Urban Shots, Urban Shots: Crossroads and Urban Shots: Bright Lights. These books contain short stories by new writers and bloggers and then edited by a single author.
Urban Shots: The Love Collection had thirty one short stories by twenty seven authors and it is edited by Sneh Thakur. As the very name says it all, this one is an anthology of contemporary stories revolving about love. What is most refreshing about this collection is the novelty of these stories – they are not the typical boy met girl story. Of course there are men and women involved but the stories are not fairytale-ish or the run of the mill story for they are about very real people falling in and out of love. Readers will relate to most of the stories, and quite easily at that. The stories are not exactly love stories but they center around the little thing called love. Love is analysed from different perspectives and angles. The different modes of narrative in the book is another welcome feature; you never feel like you are reading the same book, each story is distinctly different from the other.
I have a mixed opinion about this collection; some stories are amazingly good, some just fine and some didn’t make any sense to me. My favourite author from the book has to be Ahmed Faiyaz, he is an amazing story teller and his stories do not fail to surprise and touch you in the innermost recesses of your heart. There are three stories written by him in the book, “Rishta”, “Coffee?” and “Strangers”. While the first is my absolute favourite, the second is moderately good, the last is a tad bit disappointing for I could not really agree with the way the story turned out. “Rishta” analyses the Indian marriage scenario very successfully. The portrayal of a woman being practical, not emotional; thinking about all the pros and cons before getting married, is very realistic. The end is very touching and comes as an expected surprise (yes, expected, for you might as well successfully guess what would happen in the end).
Other favourites from the book are-
Narendranath Mitra’s (translated by Arunava Sinha) “The Girlfriend” – A poignant story of an odd extra-marital relationship.
Hina Siddiqui’s “Making Out” – This is the editor’s pick from the book. Another very new perspective of love is brought in. The narrative is pleasant and flows like poetry.
Lipi Mehta’s “Twisted” – This story reminded me of the horrors of the Pune bakery blast. The end is much unexpected and it does make you go back to the start and read it again to find all the hints you missed in the first reading. The story is replete with hints and suggestions, a mark of a good short story.
Sangeeta Bandhopadhay’s (again translated by Arunava Sinha) “Sahana or Shamim” – revolving around the inner conflict of the central character, her ultimate submission to love is sketched beautifully.
Kailash Srinivasan’s “High Time”- is a totally hilarious portrayal of arranged marriages between distant relatives. This story gives the book its share of giggles and laughter.
Overall, the book makes a good option for a light reading during breaks, travel and bedtime. The stories are not too long and can be finished in a short time. Read it over a cup of coffee to satisfy your romance craving. The book gives a fresh sight into love and the different emotions attached with it – sympathy, jealousy, hatred, dissatisfaction and betrayal.
Originally reviewed at: www.the-vault.co.cc
July 20, 2012
Naive writing...! I was disappointed with the very first story.. and literally lost my interest after that..! Completed the book just for the sake of Completing..!
February 16, 2013
there are lot of junk stories in this book,but some of the stories stole my heart like.. pity,baba yoga class,raj summer,tainted love,song of summer bird etc
October 5, 2014
Except for Chandrima Pal's Hako and Ahmed Faiyaz's Mervin, the stories didn't quite work for me. That isn't to say that the stories were bad. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't.
January 12, 2016
Hate it!!!
December 18, 2021
Considering that this is compilation of stories written by budding writers, bloggers, etc, giving it a five star rating.
All the stories are short and sweet, very engaging till the end.
This is second compilation but by a different editor.
I hope they include more diverse genres in the next compilation, like thriller, horror, sci-fi etc because I see the stories mostly fitting the drama, romance Genre.
All the stories are short and sweet, very engaging till the end.
This is second compilation but by a different editor.
I hope they include more diverse genres in the next compilation, like thriller, horror, sci-fi etc because I see the stories mostly fitting the drama, romance Genre.
February 9, 2022
Okay!
This book from a coffee shop shelve, has decent stories from urban Indian neighborhood I'd say.
Predictably plotted story collections held my attention for a few good days and my coffee turned cold several times getting nosy on these diverse household stories, crafted with a touch of humor, love and surprise.
Thank you Bikash bro, for lending and letting me read this from your cafe.
This book from a coffee shop shelve, has decent stories from urban Indian neighborhood I'd say.
Predictably plotted story collections held my attention for a few good days and my coffee turned cold several times getting nosy on these diverse household stories, crafted with a touch of humor, love and surprise.
Thank you Bikash bro, for lending and letting me read this from your cafe.
December 18, 2022
Accidentally picked up this book (had the wrong jacket), so my expectations may have been askew.
This is a compendium of contemporary short stories set in the Indian urban landscape. The writing is somewhat amateurish, but some stories were well written. Give it 3 stars for the attempt, but frankly better Indian writing abounds.
This is a compendium of contemporary short stories set in the Indian urban landscape. The writing is somewhat amateurish, but some stories were well written. Give it 3 stars for the attempt, but frankly better Indian writing abounds.
August 10, 2019
As the title goes it's a compilation of short stories in an urban setting by various authors. Overall this book was a mixed bag for me with a quite a few good narratives, rest average and some which made no sense.
November 20, 2018
Typically named, the book has anecdotes from Urban life. Good read!
June 16, 2015
Urban Shots – Crossroads, is a collection of 30 urban stories by 26 authors. Edited by Ahmed Faiyaz, it delves into the commotion, conflict and upheaval in the lives of interesting and colourful characters in urban India. The book boldly reveals the good, the bad and the ugly that exist in our society. Though it’s a work of fiction, the stories expose the realistic world of urban lives and talk about different aspects like relationships, love, depression, friendship, infidelity and longing.
All of the characters and situations used in the stories are almost extracts out of the everyday. The circumstances are real so that you tend to live the story rather than just read it. A matter of shame however is how a majority of the tales start out beautifully; build up to a point of thrilling engagement but fall flat towards the end.The style is heavily cinema inspired and immaturely believes that heavy descriptions and an incessant use of adjectives somehow translates to a better, more poignant read.
Premanand’s Yoga Class by Paritosh Uttam is about a mild mannered doctor whose love for yoga makes him infamous on TV and the writer also takes a dig at the mob psychology and yellow journalism. The Pink Slip is a succinct tale of a project manager, whose job is to fire programmers from work during recession, is faced with a similar predicament. Plummet by Avani Rajesh and Pranav Mukul is a terrifyingly beautiful mix of innocence, boldness and naivety. Song of the Summer Bird by Anita Satyajit is the tale of a delightful little 8-year old whose love for books leads her on to explore new territories. Mind Games by Manisha Dhingra has a terrific twist in the end and is difficult to second guess. Jump Didi by Sharath Komarraju has a social cause hidden which requires immediate introspection.
Overall, there are very few stories that will leave you inspired, most of them are dull and drab and leaves you with a feeling of disappointment.
All of the characters and situations used in the stories are almost extracts out of the everyday. The circumstances are real so that you tend to live the story rather than just read it. A matter of shame however is how a majority of the tales start out beautifully; build up to a point of thrilling engagement but fall flat towards the end.The style is heavily cinema inspired and immaturely believes that heavy descriptions and an incessant use of adjectives somehow translates to a better, more poignant read.
Premanand’s Yoga Class by Paritosh Uttam is about a mild mannered doctor whose love for yoga makes him infamous on TV and the writer also takes a dig at the mob psychology and yellow journalism. The Pink Slip is a succinct tale of a project manager, whose job is to fire programmers from work during recession, is faced with a similar predicament. Plummet by Avani Rajesh and Pranav Mukul is a terrifyingly beautiful mix of innocence, boldness and naivety. Song of the Summer Bird by Anita Satyajit is the tale of a delightful little 8-year old whose love for books leads her on to explore new territories. Mind Games by Manisha Dhingra has a terrific twist in the end and is difficult to second guess. Jump Didi by Sharath Komarraju has a social cause hidden which requires immediate introspection.
Overall, there are very few stories that will leave you inspired, most of them are dull and drab and leaves you with a feeling of disappointment.
January 6, 2015
I certainly don't regret buying this book. The collection of short stories has been chosen well.
This book gave me a chance to appreciate the talent of so many unknown indian authors, whose work I will most certainly look forward to in the future.
And most of all, I would like to congratulate the editor on doing such a good job. Although some of the stories were just mediocre, the editing certainly evened out any flaws there might have been. You won't come across any embarrassing grammatical errors that are so common in Indian publishing.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick read. It would take you 10 minutes at the max to finish even the longest short story in this book.
This book gave me a chance to appreciate the talent of so many unknown indian authors, whose work I will most certainly look forward to in the future.
And most of all, I would like to congratulate the editor on doing such a good job. Although some of the stories were just mediocre, the editing certainly evened out any flaws there might have been. You won't come across any embarrassing grammatical errors that are so common in Indian publishing.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a quick read. It would take you 10 minutes at the max to finish even the longest short story in this book.
April 14, 2012
Urban Shots--Crossroads: A tuft of grass with no ground beneath! You fall into an empty pit right at the first step! Need I say more? Yeah...ok...here...Much ado about nothing!
July 15, 2012
Makes for a good read.
June 17, 2013
nice one.the stories of mervin,crossroads,paradise,the yoga doctor and few others are quite interesting.
October 24, 2013
Ideal for just a one-time journey read !!!
February 6, 2014
Excellent Collection of Short stories by various authors!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews