Calcutta is the central character in each of the three stories in this book. As all Bengalis will tell you, even when the city stands quietly in the corner, not saying a word, her presence may be deeply felt by those close to her.
The House and Other Stories is also about the many persons we encounter in the everyday. These are the people we pass by without a second thought. Who are these people? What stories lie locked up in each of them? Will they ever be told? Like magic,
one question leads to another and soon, they no longer appear anonymous; they come alive. It is as if an entirely new world has been conjured before our eyes. And we are enchanted by the stories that have lain hidden from us for so long. Even if the stories emerge at times from the realm of the dead.