The Last Ticket and other stories - Book Review

This is a compilation of short stories of authors from Asia, published by the National Book Trust, India. It has 10 stories. But out of them, I liked few stories for different reasons. 

One was by Satyajit Ray, The hungry septopus. This is the story of a flesh eater plant. This particular captivated me because of the story telling, the imagination and intrigue factor. The way the characters are introduced, the way the plot unfolds and the way the suspense is sustained, I think this is a classic text book form of writing.

The next one I liked was by a Iranian author, Minoo Karimzadeh, The last ticket. The story is about a poor young boy who works in a factory. One fine morning he just has a single ticket. He boards the bus and decides to travel without ticket and save the ticket for his return journey as he would be dead tired in the night. But he faces a moral dilemma and gets off the bus. In the night, while waiting to catch the return bus, another poor boy asks him for a ticket. He gives the last ticket to him and walks home on his tired legs.

Then there is a story, A Kite in the sky, by Syed Fateh Ali, a Pakistani writer. The plot is very simple. I liked it for the imagination and vivid description. It is the story of a boy who loves to fly Kite. One day, he wants to fly and the Kite flies him.

Simple stories from Asia to make the heart warm.