What do you think?
Rate this book
Shades in Shadows - A Collection of Short Stories
About Book : The book presents a collection of eight short stories. The themes are diverse and reflect the myriad dimensions of life, and attempts to sketch the experiences of the protagonists. The stories build on the belief that while life's mysterious ways have left us all befuddled, its journey is rarely smooth or proceeds on predicted lines for many of us, often casting dark shadows on our efforts to take it in directions we favour. Sudden surprises, unexpected successes and disappointments seem to appear, like shades of grey within the black of the shadows. It is perhaps these shades that have made life exciting and worth fighting for. This collection titled as Shades in Shadows embodies the spirit of the glorious uncertainties of life.
About Author : Dr. Usha Sridhar is an independent Network Science researcher and resides in Bangalore. Graduating with a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, India, Usha spent several decades as a researcher in India and overseas and many years as an entrepreneur exploring applications intersecting economics, social networks, learning systems and analytics.
Usha is passionate about poetry and short stories. She loves to observe the ebb and flow of life around her and weave them into tales and verses at times. The characters in her work hence have an earthy rootedness in a local milieu, but she often endows them a sensitive strength to defy traditional gender prototypes. Many of her works try to give voice to the travails, rising inner aspirations, unspoken fears, and simple joys of women in a diversity of settings.
Her poems and short story contributions have appeared in Rate my Literature, Muse India, Spillwords and Efiction India. Her work has also appeared in several anthologies. She is the author of four books: three collections of poems titled Life Matters; Drenched in Reverie, Heightened Senses and a collection of short stories titled Women’s Corner.
At a personal level, Usha loves travelling, is an avid bird watcher and an amateur photographer.
About Author : Dr. Usha Sridhar is an independent Network Science researcher and resides in Bangalore. Graduating with a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, India, Usha spent several decades as a researcher in India and overseas and many years as an entrepreneur exploring applications intersecting economics, social networks, learning systems and analytics.
Usha is passionate about poetry and short stories. She loves to observe the ebb and flow of life around her and weave them into tales and verses at times. The characters in her work hence have an earthy rootedness in a local milieu, but she often endows them a sensitive strength to defy traditional gender prototypes. Many of her works try to give voice to the travails, rising inner aspirations, unspoken fears, and simple joys of women in a diversity of settings.
Her poems and short story contributions have appeared in Rate my Literature, Muse India, Spillwords and Efiction India. Her work has also appeared in several anthologies. She is the author of four books: three collections of poems titled Life Matters; Drenched in Reverie, Heightened Senses and a collection of short stories titled Women’s Corner.
At a personal level, Usha loves travelling, is an avid bird watcher and an amateur photographer.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 18, 2019
This book is a collection of beautiful short stories but mind you these stories are very different. When you read it you will feel like you are going through life chapters of someone or the other you know. I would just say get your hands on this beautiful story collection.
The stories deal with different emotions like betrayal, love,hatred, happiness, selfless nature and many more things. I am sure of one thing everyone who reads this will definitely take good things with them.
I liked all the stories but A Sunny Embrace was amazing..it was written so beautifully that you will be a part if story yourself.
4.5 ⭐
The stories deal with different emotions like betrayal, love,hatred, happiness, selfless nature and many more things. I am sure of one thing everyone who reads this will definitely take good things with them.
I liked all the stories but A Sunny Embrace was amazing..it was written so beautifully that you will be a part if story yourself.
4.5 ⭐
February 27, 2021
Beautiful stories. Each of them different... Involving different human emotions. There was a bleak element of mystery.. Made me think.. Oh what might have happened..thats what kept me hooked. Beautifully woven set of stories. Enjoyed. Thoroughly!
August 20, 2019
Shades in shadows
This book consists of various short stories which are riveting & hearttouching, heartwrecking, heartwarming & heart-rending. It accommodates 8 stories in total. The themes vary from one story to another. The interesting fact is the range of stories are diverse & personify various dimensions of life, with a hoarse attempt to sketch the experiences of the characters etched in the book.
The following are the stories in the book :
1. Magical weave.
2. A sunny embrace.
3. An earnest witness.
4. A delightful soul.
5. A surprise encounter.
6. Sunrise to Twilight.
7. A feigned performance.
8. Monkey business.
It starts right from an unconditional nameless fatherly relationship of a rich guy named Rohit with a slum girl Vidya. The book ends with a Monkey business story of Ramu who manages to earn meagrely via his pets. Though the stories are different, they comprise of various emotions like love, hate, sad, joy, happiness, respect, family bond, friendship, hurdles, unconditional love, etcetera. Themes deal with various social issues, stigmas of society, stringent hectic life, painful occurrences, humanitarian values, motivation, inspiration & other aspects of human life as well. Additionally, they touch many vivid segments of life in tragic ways & components. Written in a composed nonchalant manner, they touch readers hearts & linger for a very long time.
Only drawbacks being, the language was way too simple. Also, a lot of colloquial local words & phrases used with the reference of local dialects which turned out to be annoying at certain intervals. And not to forget, nonhindi readers may find themselves at a trance during such situations. Overall, a good onetime read!
This book consists of various short stories which are riveting & hearttouching, heartwrecking, heartwarming & heart-rending. It accommodates 8 stories in total. The themes vary from one story to another. The interesting fact is the range of stories are diverse & personify various dimensions of life, with a hoarse attempt to sketch the experiences of the characters etched in the book.
The following are the stories in the book :
1. Magical weave.
2. A sunny embrace.
3. An earnest witness.
4. A delightful soul.
5. A surprise encounter.
6. Sunrise to Twilight.
7. A feigned performance.
8. Monkey business.
It starts right from an unconditional nameless fatherly relationship of a rich guy named Rohit with a slum girl Vidya. The book ends with a Monkey business story of Ramu who manages to earn meagrely via his pets. Though the stories are different, they comprise of various emotions like love, hate, sad, joy, happiness, respect, family bond, friendship, hurdles, unconditional love, etcetera. Themes deal with various social issues, stigmas of society, stringent hectic life, painful occurrences, humanitarian values, motivation, inspiration & other aspects of human life as well. Additionally, they touch many vivid segments of life in tragic ways & components. Written in a composed nonchalant manner, they touch readers hearts & linger for a very long time.
Only drawbacks being, the language was way too simple. Also, a lot of colloquial local words & phrases used with the reference of local dialects which turned out to be annoying at certain intervals. And not to forget, nonhindi readers may find themselves at a trance during such situations. Overall, a good onetime read!
July 21, 2019
Shades in Shadows by Dr. Usha Sridhar is a collection of eight short stories.
The stories are woven across various themes that reflect the different shades of life. Day to day experiences, social issues, tragedy, feminist, humanism, love, despair are some of the themes that are included in this book.
I loved how each story has a positive and inspiring end/outlook. The narrations are very beautiful and gripping. The language is very simple and the flow of the stories is very smooth. The characters are realistic and relatable.
The title of each individual story is very beautiful and wisely chosen.
My favorite stories from this collection were Magical Weave and A Surprise Encounter!
Definitely recommended :)
The stories are woven across various themes that reflect the different shades of life. Day to day experiences, social issues, tragedy, feminist, humanism, love, despair are some of the themes that are included in this book.
I loved how each story has a positive and inspiring end/outlook. The narrations are very beautiful and gripping. The language is very simple and the flow of the stories is very smooth. The characters are realistic and relatable.
The title of each individual story is very beautiful and wisely chosen.
My favorite stories from this collection were Magical Weave and A Surprise Encounter!
Definitely recommended :)
July 28, 2019
Dr. Usha Sridhar's 'Shades in Shadows', is a wonderful compilation of 8 beautifully written stories which are scribbled in a manner which will definitely touch your heart! The reader can witness different shades of life through the tales of the book. One learns through these stories that sorrow, joy, love, success, disappointments etc are all part of life, but in the end, whatever happens, directs us to a better path. The language used is pretty simple and easy to comprehend. The best part about every story is the smooth flow and satisfying ending! Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews