I've heard of the ant metaphor before, you know, where they say something on the lines of  "the ground was so crowded even the ants wouldn't get to move" in Marathi, but through one of the stories in this collection I learnt there is also one with mustard seeds in Tamil. It goes "the ground was so crowded even if mustard seeds fell off, they won't land". Languages! 

Bama's Harum Scarum Saar and other stories, translated by N. Ravi Shanker, was recommended to me a good while back by Aritra. I remember having bought the book immediately but then of course took long enough to read it. 

This has 10 stories that evoke diverse emotions and have a simple narrative style. The primary theme running across all stories is that of caste oppression. Discrimination with respect to clothing, food, living styles, education, type of work being done, is covered throughout in various ways. Some stories talk about really strong marginalized characters who defy the caste system with all their might, regardless of the cost they have to pay, and some stories have characters that have absolutely no opportunity to escape their oppression in any manner at all. In some, you feel pride on behalf of the characters, in others you worry for them. Bama's writing is matter of fact without hyperboles, except the use of metaphors in some places. N. Ravi Shanker has translated exceptionally well, retaining the Tamil in places, while keeping the style of portrayal as local as possible. For instance, a routine English reader might find some hypothetical questions offensive if read in the style of English language. But if you have the nuance of locally used English or even colloquial here in India, you will know it is simply a way of speaking for emphasis.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I think it's going to go in my re-read section.