One of India's most cherished figures, Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1914) was a novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist, painter, educationist and thinker, the first non-European to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. He modernised Bengali literature, moving it away from its rigid classical form and strict linguistic structure. Known for works such as Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced) and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World,) his novels, short stories and verse are considered part of the greatest of world literature, famous for their exploration of the political and the personal. He also wrote the national anthem of India, Jana Gana Mana and of Bangladesh, Amar Shonar Bangla.
Containing some of Tagore's best-loved short stories, such as 'The Hungry Stones', 'The Cabuliwallah', 'Once There Was A King' and 'The Home-Coming' and 'The Kingdom of Cards', this collection of short stories explores the lives of ordinary men who experience extraordinary moments.
