The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction

by Vishwambhari Parmar, Rakesh Khanna (editor), H. N. Golibar

A rollicking, rip-roaring ride through the world of Gujarati pulp! This collection of short stories and novellas from Gujarat's bestselling adventure, horror, and mystery writers was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign in Jan-Feb 2024.

The anthology includes The Coils of Fate, by H.N. "Atom" Golibar, known for his supernatural-tinged crime thrillers; The Undersea Real by Bansidhar Shukla, which features genetically-altered mermen in a secret deep-sea empire; two stories by Ekta Nirav Doshi, famous for her folk horror about khavis and haunted forts; Bar Dancer by Vibhavari Verma, a revenge fantasy set in the Mumbai underworld; and three stories by Kanu Baghdev, one of the most prolific Gujarati writers of all time.

"Blaft does it again! Gujarati Pulp Fiction is a showstopper, full of thrills and chills... as well as startling feats of science, enchantment, and feminine wiles. Vishwambhari S. Parmar's translations are hip and fun and bring alive the pulpy goodness of the original tales. There are also many not-to-be-missed extras, such as fascinating author bios, original illustrations, and 'jokelates' from original editions. I was riveted, astonished, mesmerized!" --Daisy Rockwell, Booker-award-winning translator of Tomb of Sand

Kindle Edition

Published February 5, 2025

Reviews

[Fanni Sütő · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely read. The stories were of varying quality but they were entertaining and very diverse and I really appreciate the research behind it.

[Thomas Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly as described by the title, this is a collection of short stories (and two longer pieces) by Gujarati pulp writers, with original publication dates going back almost a century! Lovingly republished in new English translations with a host of extra material, including original illustrations, magazine advertisements, and back matter from their first printings. The stories themselves are a broad mix of horror, supernatural murder thriller, and even undersea science fiction. I had a great time with these, and I was happy to have helped crowdfund it!

[Rahul Vishnoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

-Gujarati Spice Served Right-
Review of 'The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction'

Quote Alert

"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝," 𝐓𝐚𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐚. "𝐒𝐞𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬. 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐲-𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭-𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨
𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢 𝐣𝐚𝐚𝐧?” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬! 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤,𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐟. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬! 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐲! 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥-𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫."


I think the above paragraph gave you some hint about the tonality of stories in The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. It's unabashed, confident and brings women to the centre of the podium, and not just upper or middle class women as they have been represented in mainstream fiction, but also the ones who clean our homes and the ones who danced in bars. This collection, features househelps turned seductress; scientists; women who serve tea just after they have been kidnapped.


But why read short stories or novellas? When you are tired of reading novels or maybe suffering from a stumbling reader's block, short stories always come to rescue. Easy to start and quick to finish, they act like a cleanser for your reading palate. And the best part is, if you don't like one, maybe revisit it after some time and go read another short story. This is what this anthology offers: a promise of good times.


Here and there drenched with the words Gujarati, and peppered with wit and social commentary, these stories are windows to the past and its people. They are not mundane and don't contain the everyday struggles but there are monsters and ghosts, robbers and kidnappers; the ties of friendship and faith and the politics of love and rejection.

In some stories, women are not more than props and their places could very well be interchanged. However, keeping in mind the times they were published and the current condition of most of the homemakers, it doesn't feel too out of place.


This anthology is an attempt at preserving the rich and delicious underworld of Gujarati fiction, populated by merpeople, headless corpses, demon-fighting dervishes, uptight policemen, and conniving thieves. These stories have delighted, amazed, and scandalised readers of all ages and occupations for over a century. Dive into them to know more.


The translation here is effortless and makes it possible for us to read the stories once forgotten but now rejuvenated.
Translation is one of the most noble pursuits of being an intellectual. Apart from bridging the literary gaps between words geographically and cerebrally, it does a yeoman service of bringing regional issues like class differences, abject poverty and deprivation of equitable resources. And that's why translations like this are are crucial.


My favourite short story is the first one that kickstarts the collection: Bar Dancer by Vibhavari Verma, a revenge fantasy set in the Mumbai underworld. Simple yet engaging, it's playful as well as skillfully written. Parvati, working as a housemaid and struggling to keep a roof over her daughter's head finds her life tilting upside down when she comes across Tahira, who used to dance in a bar with her. Now living a rich and comfortable life, she offers to reach Parvati the nuanced art of seduction and gets her ready for a revenge on her husband who left her to go to Dubai.

The anthology also includes Kaal Kundali by H.N. "Atom" Golibar, known for his supernatural-tinged crime thrillers; Varunlokma by Bansidhar Shukla, which features genetically-altered mermen in a secret undersea empire; two stories by Ekta Nirav Doshi, famous for her folk horror about khavis and haunted forts; and a story by Kanu Baghdev, one of the most prolific Gujarati writers of all time. It also features cover art, as well as original black-and-white art for Kaal Kundali by prolific Gujarati magazine illustrator G. Sandhwani.

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review:
https://hararereview.wordpress.com/20...

DID YOU KNOW that Bollywood caused a literary renaissance in Kano, Nigeria?!

Anyway, I was thrilled when Rakesh of Blaft reached out last year to offer DRCs of The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction and The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF (more on that one later). As I recently wrote a piece for Strange Horizons on how we should all be reading diversely so we can imagine better futures for all of us—something I’m thinking about a lot—this is very much up my street.

So, I looked it up. The dictionary definition of pulp fiction is
"books about imaginary characters and events, produced in large quantities and intended to be read by many people but not considered to be of very good quality. (Cambridge)"
Well, then: By definition, this collection misses it… because what I found here was of excellent quality 🙂
What’s in this collection? Every story begins with a summary of the author’s work. The collection opens with Bar Dancer, a story by Vibhavari Varma, who has written both in both the romance and thriller genres. Bar Dancer is a really smart and touching tale of how the mother of a young daughter is willing to find work that can be considered demeaning to be able to provide for her child—the thing that drives her—and how this leads her into problematic situations. She does, however, get the last laugh (I love happy endings for women!), and at the same time rediscovers herself and her place in the world.

There are two stories from Ekta Nirav Doshi; my favourite is Face to Face, a truly hair-raising ghost story. And then there’s work from the great Atom-ji, H. N. Golibar, of the long-running magazine Chakram Chandan, with wonderful illustrations by G. Sandhwani. This is an intriguing tidbit about the magazine:
"Special orders of the magazine came in from as far away as Khartoum, Sudan, where 30 or so Gujarati families used to congregate in the community hall at the Indian embassy for a group read."

Atom-ji’s The Coils of Fate is what really got me hooked. It’s brilliant! I won’t spoil it for you, but recommend that you read it first when you get this collection.

Other stories: Varsha Adalja’s Fingerprints; Kalidas Jadav’s The Invisible Enemy, incredible for having been written in 1948 and featuring a moon rocket called Chandrayaan; Viru Purohit’s Hello is fascinating because it’s about a robot-human war as a way to explore how language makes us human; Bansidhar Shukla’s Varunlok: The Undersea Realm is a very elaborate tale of mer people and scientific experimentation. Fifty-fifty, A Crisis of Conscience and The Marksman, all by Kanu Bhagdev, and the whimsical A Message From the Stars by Narad complete the collection.
Interspersed among the stories are covers and cartoons (with translations), and blurbs and title pages which are notable for how delightfully pulpy they are:

“This blood-infused scent of jasmine makes the inspector’s life veer onto a track pitted with dangers at every step—while death follows close at his heels…!”)

Now… Sandhya hopes to win Rakesh over, but he is trapped in Gita’s clutches. • Even more shocking and horrifying is the fact that Gita is no ordinary woman. She is a witch—a daakan! • A bone-chilling horror thriller revolving around the contest of hearts between a woman and a witch…

Ahem.

I’m seriously considering becoming a collector of Gujarati pulp (in translation, I guess… although there’s something appealing about collecting the original works).

[Mahi Aggarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was "pure madness"—in the best way possible.

I honestly didn’t expect to be so drawn into a world of mermen, haunted forts, vengeful bar dancers, and mystical crime thrillers. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. Every story pulls you in like an old radio drama—loud, fast, chaotic, and completely addictive.

What makes this anthology stand out is its authenticity . These stories weren’t written to impress the literary world—they were written to "thrill" the reader, to surprise you, scare you, make you laugh, and sometimes make you gasp at just how wild things can get. And yet, under all the pulp drama, there’s culture, there’s identity, and there’s storytelling that refuses to be forgotten.

The inclusion of illustrations and old-school cover art adds so much nostalgic charm. It’s like holding a piece of hidden literary history in your hands. Whether you’re a fan of horror, fantasy, crime, or just something completely different, this anthology is a rare gem. Loud, proud, and pulpy to the core.