The issue is how society deals with “an exhilarating feeling of freedom in an eighteen year old.” Is it “a perfected well-ordered society” designed to protect its citizens or preserve itself and what is the illness that is being incinerated? Only now the setting is akin to what the world has witnessed while confronting a pandemic. The’ Cloistered City’ reminds one of George Orwell describing totalitarian and authoritarian social practices. What are the feelings that go through the mind of an expectant mother dealt such a cruel hand and what are her means of getting her revenge? The horrors of insurgency and the collateral damage it creates on the local population exposes the reader to tragedies of their lives. In the rugged and inhospitable terrain near the Line of Control, a terrorist rapes a young school teacher who is now carrying his child. In ‘The Well’, the author takes us deep into the insurgency hit Kashmir. The son who arrives from his unit in the valley spends the night holding the old man’s hand playing a masquerade that unfolds only later. The father – a proud old Army officer waits for his son, an officer in his own battalion. ‘Night Vigil’ is a sensitive story based on a true incident, a dying father and a son keeping vigil over him. And the ending hits like a hammer stroke. The interplay of these two main characters and how they pursue their own desires with the shadow of death looming over them, ends in both triumph and loss. The title story, ‘The Final Draft’ is a powerful story of a dying writer who is focused on producing his best work, while battling cancer with the support of his wife. As the stories unfold, you are drawn deep into an intricate world – and often left gasping at the shock ending.Įach of the stories have different themes. The author has interspersed poetry between each story, which adds to its appeal. And each of the twelve stories are tales of great power and imagination, lyrically told. The essence of a good short story is to tell a good tale.