17 Tomatoes: Tales From Kashmir
Jaspreet Singh
"17 Tomatoes: Tales from Kashmir" is a series of linked stories that revolve around two Sikh boys coming of age in an Indian Army camp in Kashmir. Each story takes a minor character from the previous tale and builds a new tale, weaving a collective portrait of the border community. In addition to the boys, Adi (a student of gardens) and Arjun (a budding chemist), we meet a boatman's daughter, a celebrity cricket umpire and Parachute Aunty. From modern missiles to cricket matches, from religious miracles to the sumptuous gardens of Shalimar and Nishat, Singh treats beauty, politics, and religion in a gentle and humane manner.
Jaspreet Singh grew up in India and now lives in Canada. He holds a Ph.D in chemical engineering from McGill University, Montreal. His stories have appeared in Exile, and Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope, among other publications, as well as in anthologies for new writing. He is currently working on a novel.