The Guardian of Property

A miserly old man, obsessed with his wealth, decides to bury it underground - and hands its secret to a young boy he trusts to guard it. But the boy is not quite what he seems, and what unfolds asks a bigger question than where the money is hidden: what does it really mean to be rich, and what does family actually owe each other? This story is one of eighteen hand-picked tales in the collection, originally written in Bengali and carefully rewritten in English, each carrying its own note of love, sadness, happiness or longing. Together they offer a glimpse of Indian life, customs and belief from another time, in stories built to delight readers young and old alike.