A city has many faces - enigmatic, mysterious, romantic: frightening, violent and tragic. And then there are those special moments, fleeting instances, when she allows you a brief, tantalizing glimpse of yet another face- a bright, elusive face, even as she, her eyes glittering with mischief, darts through the traffic, through the heat waves, dust, pollution, and long, sad lines waiting for water. She shoots a lightning glance at you to see if you are following her, then leads you to the strangely funny, the singularly unique, the absolutely maddening, and sometime, the downright incomprehensible, all intrinsic elements in the drama that is her. And all evocative of the most hapless, yet somehow endearing, facets of the human condition. She throws a teasing laugh over her shoulder, as if telling you not to take Life in general and yourself in particulars, too serious, and vanishes even as you register each new vision.. She knows you'll search again. This book contains stories of those moments when the city, watching her people cope with both Destiny in particularly playful moods, and, more often, with the results of their own actions, decided to smile.
