The choice of writers, the themes and the styles represented in this volume tell us something about Srinivas Rayaprol himself, about the mind of the creative writer-cum-translator at work. The selected texts cover a range of themes concerning man-woman relationships, women's desires, the plight of single women, the functioning of bureaucrats and politicians, among others. One cannot miss out on the preoccupation with death in many stories, nor can one ignore the ironic twist in the conclusions of some of them. The choices also seem to suggest an inclination for the unusual, rather than run-of-the-mill stories, both in terms of theme and style. The final selection of the stories seems to be purely personal. The order in which the stories have been presented too seems unique, for it defies chronology.

First published in 1988, Rumadful is a delightful collection of short stories that capture a wide range of human emotions. In this collection, the author has also experimented with the science fiction genre, a bold step to take in Indian language fiction during the time it was published.