I loved Siddhartha, I told myself. Loved him for his handsome dignity, for the way he loved me, for the way he cared about me, for the way he looked at me as if I was his… Why was it that I could only think of Atul then? Of our illicit meetings, of his hungry kisses, of his cardamom-ey taste?'

Sometimes touching, at times funny and always straight from the heart, Urban Shots: Love Collection is a compilation of love stories - with a distinctly contemporary Indian flavour. Spanning arranged matches, premarital sexual encounters, same-sex relationships and extramarital affairs, this book paints for us an urban landscape of contrasts - where astrological charts and the need for parental consent coexist with casual dating.

In the poignant 'Making Out', motivated by compassion, a girl unlocks the painful secrets of her date's past and offers a healing touch. In the funny 'High Time', a potential groom's conservative Tamil parents beat a hasty retreat when they realize that the NRI match they've chosen for their son has 'boyfriends' hidden in her past. And in the grungily unromantic '32 B', a prank backfires when the protagonist realizes that she desires the guy she has been leading on.