''Local'' is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

Jaideep Varma Jaideep Varma is an Indian writer, screenwriter and filmmaker. He has made 5 feature films – '' Hulla'' (2008, fiction), '' Leaving Home – the Life & Music of Indian Ocean'' (2010, non-fiction), '' Baavra Mann – a Film on Sudhir Mishra & Ot ...

, written in 2001 (with subsequent

drafts Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

) and

published Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, new ...

by Indialog Publications in 2005. The book recounts the story of a

white collar White collar may refer to: * White-collar worker, a salaried professional or an educated worker who performs semi-professional office, administrative, and sales-coordination tasks, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor ...

employee, Akash, who chooses to live on a

local train Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...

in Mumbai as a

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

man. He does so to solve his accommodation and

commuting Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regu ...

issues (both massive problems in Mumbai) but also to get relief from a personal pain that being constantly in motion provides him. The contradictions of his two lives (as a multinational employee during the day and a homeless man with no possessions in the night) change him forever. A striking feature of the book is its format: the main

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional ( memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller Thriller may r ...

is punctuated by

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

about characters Akash meets both on the train and in his office, with those characters then taking center stage. The book received good reviews when it was published in 2005, but has subsequently gone out of print.

References

2001 novels {{2000s-novel-stub