Author Ameya Bondre's 'Afsaane', an Enchanting Short Story Collection!

Published by Blue Rose Publishers and written by Ameya Bondre, Afsaane is a collection of eleven short stories on love, separation, friendship, hope, acceptance and nostalgia. The book released at the World Book Fair 2020, and it was earlier listed at the prestigious Oxford Bookstore, in Delhi. Since its release, the book has been getting rave reviews, including in the popular reading community, Goodreads.

A sky-blue paper bird glued to a mirror. A handmade book on music to be gifted. A pair of mud-brown tea cups without handles. A shelf to hoard dying memories. A little home tucked away in a remote village. A haunting voice after boarding an empty bus... The images on the cover belong to people whose stories are packed in this book: A man who meets his lost friend in a new world. A seeker who resists everyone to reach an unwanted place. Lovers that separate, only to find some hope. A failed artist who finds another voice. A new entrant in a home who creates turmoil. A cheated girl who makes a desperate call. A shattered man who pegs on a sudden dreamy trip. With eleven stories of unrequited love, hope, acceptance, heart breaks or just needs, ‘Afsaane’ will tug at your heartstrings and open windows to people that experience unusual situations in far too usual lives.  

Talking about the title, the author said, "Choosing an atypical word for the title was a conscious decision. ‘Afsaane’ means ‘tales’, ‘fiction’ or ‘romance’ and I could not find a better English word to subsume these meanings!'

Further talking about the stories, Ameya said, "These eleven disconnected stories are about usual people in unusual situations, or unusual for their context. They dwell on human connections, their strange, complex and impulsive nature. I have often written from the first-person point of view, which I found most comfortable. And, they will emote, speak, emphasize, describe and try to involve you at every step!"

Ameya is a physician and public health researcher, working with a healthcare technology start-up associated with IIT-Bombay. Born and raised in Mumbai, he studied at KEM Hospital, and later at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. While his professional life has been rewarding with honours from Johns Hopkins, MIT, Yale and TEDx, and several research publications, it is creative writing that has been a constant companion over the years, with multiple rounds of writing and editing back and forth, periodic workshops, and continued learning from editors and readers alike. He formally started writing short stories in the winter of 2017, to put them into ‘Afsaane’, his debut book.