Aam-Khaas (Ordinary, Extraordinary) stories are about ordinary and marginalized people – dalits, immigrant laborers, slum dwellers and of those self-claimed as ‘extraordinary’ with power over others. The story Roos Roos Amrica Amrica lucidly captures the changing attitudes and behaviors in people’s daily lives in light of the collapse of socialist ideology and the rise of capitalism, liberalism and globalization. A young idealist named Iqbal strategically gets revenge against a cruel village chief who had assaulted his friend Modan. But now due to the shifting political winds, he abandons his ‘comradeship’ and corruptly starts buying votes for the village Panchayat election. Similarly, Rupana creates an engaging story about the vagabond boys in Delhi who are not into good or bad deeds, but who devise devious tricks to become successful beggars. Aam-khaas engages the readers’ attention by using contemporary narrative techniques like intertextuality, flashback and co-incidence to reveal both the ordinary and extraordinary nature of Punjabi common folk in a changing society.
