A reality check of India

Annie Zaidi's collection of essays explores diverse issues from banditry to hunger, weaving together a narrative that demands reflection on the pressing challenges faced by the country's marginalised

Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales of India 

Author: Annie Zaidi

Publisher: Aleph

Pages: 250

Price: Rs 499

There is no good time to ask inconvenient questions. There is no good time to seek bandits, meet starving children, watch artisans wither, or question religion either. For Annie Zaidi, however, asking awkward questions goes with the job. Her collection of essays, Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales of India, offers a glimpse of her experience as a reporter and the uncertainties of working in the field.

For her first story for The Frontline, she chooses Chambal and its tradition of banditry. Fascinated by