This volume introduces students of literature to the rich literary traditions in short fiction from the four South Indian languages - Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. The translations re-introduce to students the pleasures of reading and show them ways of responding sensitively to a wide variety of Indian experiences as seen in the carefully chosen and multilayered texts. The exercises at the end of each story encourage students to take a close look at the elements that constitute a story: vocabulary, style, imagery, and theme. They also stimulate students to try their hand at the pleasurable acts of translation and creative writing. Each story is preceded by a brief profile of the author and also a page of the story in the original source language. Though the book is primarily targeted at undergraduate students of literature, especially Indian literature in English translation, it will also interest general readers.