Enter a world of boys. Writers and sportsmen, princes and cooks — scared, brave, bully, bullied, rich, poor, gentle, rough, in the gang and out of it… With different childhoods, challenges and choices, they come together in strength to take on the notion that ‘boys will be boys’. Being Boys is a collection which has a story for every boy. Written with humour and empathy, this array of fiction, fable, autobiography, reportage, diary jottings, memoir and history rewrites the ‘rules’ of being boys. Contributors: Manjula Padmanabhan, Amandeep Sandhu, Bharat Shekhar, Devashish Makhija, R.K Narayan, Jerry Pinto, Suniti Namjoshi, Siddalingiah, Kanak Shashi, Niveditha Subramaniam, Sowmya Rajendran, Raj Shekhar, M.R Renukumar, Ranjit Lal, Rinchin, Samar Halarnkar, N Sudarshan, Devika Cariapa, Vikram Seth.

While Being Boys presents itself as an anthology of short stories with young male protagonists, what stood out for me was its inclusion of narratives that one would be hard pressed to find in mainstream Indian publishing… Being Boys is an anthology that could get young readers thinking . More significantly, it suggests that sometimes, being a boy in India can be confusing and mysterious, as much a burden as a socially conferred privilege, as much about celebrating one’s feminine side as flaunting the masculine. – Saffron Tree