Tales for all

Bahrain-based author Tajammul Kothari has penned his way into the fiction genre with his latest collection of short stories, spanning themes like romance, crime, children’s literature and more, writes Melissa Nazareth.

The Indian expatriate, who works as an administration manager with a local construction company, launched Mixed Bag – Short Stories on Amazon in April. The 134-page collection of 16 tales caters to ‘every taste’ as it explores a gamut of sentiments, from love and betrayal to racism and power struggles.

“After publishing my poetry books, I took a break from full time writing due to work and life pressures, and was only concentrating on writing short articles for my blog: worldlyrealisation.blogspot.com. However, the idea of writing fiction was always there at the back of my mind,” said the creative talent from Riffa, who was born and raised in the kingdom and attended the Indian School.

In a previous interview with GulfWeekly, Tajammul noted that his foray into writing began with his blog and when he saw his readership grow, it spurred him on to experiment with different styles; poetry came to him naturally and eventually, became a ‘passion’.

“Seeing a positive response to An Ode to Life and Unanswered Verses, my confidence surged and I took a step forward and published Mixed Bag – Short Stories. I hope it will receive the same appreciation and support as my previous works.”

Not one to rest on past laurels, Tajammul is currently working on a novella inspired by Bahrain.

“Bahrain holds a very special place in my heart as I have lived in this wonderful country for so many years. My next book will feature this beautiful island and its people; it will have an ensemble characters from all over the world with one of the characters residing here in Bahrain,” he revealed.

An excerpt from Retribution, one of the short stories, reads:

‘In the evening, Rupert goes through the photographs and sees something unusual. He takes out his magnifying glass from his desk drawer and zooms in. He notices the name of the bookstore in the background. Memories are recollected as it is the same bookstore he used to visit so regularly in his hometown, Riverwell. He scratches his head and wonders if he has seen the girl somewhere, but he cannot recall.’