On The Schaku Couplers

★★★★★ "A magical journey through India's railways" - Customer Review
___________

Dreams and Desires, Sacrifice and Selfishness, Compassion and Jealousy, Love and Lust, Struggle and Fate!

Find out what happens to Dipy the dog and a boy from the slums as their bond grows stronger...

At the height of India's struggle for independence, The Neo Patriot finds his calling... A motorman and his ambitious wife encounter an unforeseen Occupational Hazard...

A millennial couple's strife exposes the cracks in the Turning Tables... Religious singers of a Bhajan Mandali get caught in throes of politics as they compete on an unimaginable scale... A pitiable farmer undertakes The Bollworm March and conveys a chilling message...

A young German woman visiting India in search of someone falls in love, only to realise it's a cruel Mirage.

These and other stories, set in fiery Mumbai, offer poignant insight into lives from different eras, generations and social strata.

Memorable characters, inspired from real-life experiences, true events and facts, deal with unusual and uncomfortable situations, at times leading to unexpected conclusions.

With contrasting, multi-layered narratives, Ankit Jamwal takes you on a series of unforgettable journeys in this refreshingly original debut collection!

___________

"Love letters to Mumbai's railways, Jamwal's wonderful stories capture the verve, spirit and uniqueness of Indian trains." - Monisha Rajesh, Author of Around India in 80 Trains

"The lifeline of Mumbai is the local train, so is the spine of this book. Keeping Mumbai's local trains as the central narrative, Ankit Jamwal's excellent compilation of realistic short stories give vivid details of how this lifeline actually winds its way through life. Nostalgia, trains and more, the book attempts to successfully decode the people and how this megapolis is because of its trains!" - Rajendra B. Aklekar, Journalist and Author of Halt Station India

"Mumbai's rail system is the throbbing heart of the city and Jamwal has used it brilliantly as the backdrop of a series of disparate but elegantly written set of tales from different eras of the sub-continent's history. Whether it is the boy finding solace in a dog or the man who has lost the will to live, the characters are convincing and in each case, the role of the railway is central to the outcome of the story. Jamwal uses his stories to depict the wider life of Mumbai but the role of the railway, the most crowded and heavily used suburban system in the world, in bringing people's lives together - and occasionally separating them - is never forgotten. There are a million more stories out there and hopefully, Jamwal will tell more in the future." - Christian Wolmar, Author of Railways and The Raj

"The railway equipment called Schaku coupler may bolster a relatively low tonnage but Ankit Jamwal's expressive and refreshing debut is a comparatively mighty read. A psychedelic canvas of human emotions experienced across his journeys across Mumbai, that urban behemoth quite literally an assault on the senses, Ankit shares his encounters and incidents involving an eclectic and often peculiarly whimsical human society that typifies this maddening city. Touching and moving, yet interlaced with dashes of simple charm and wordplay, it is one fascinating story full of many stories in a lucid style that is at once enjoyable." - Sunjoy Monga, Writer, Naturalist, and Photographer