When the book came in for review, it was a moment of excitement as well as pride that I would be reviewing a book that contained translations of stories in English written by Prof Baig Ehsas, winner of Sahitya Akademi award in Urdu (2017) for his stories collection, Dakhma. During my childhood, I had heard his name being mentioned by my grandfather who was the Head of the Urdu Department, University of Allahabad. My grandfather's students who used to visit our house, post his retirement, had at times mentioned his name. It was quite a happy moment when I heard that earlier this year one of his stories - Dakhma - would now be a part of the Masters syllabus at Urdu Department, University of Allahabad. Dakhma has also being translated into English in this book, Shades of the City.