Chasing the Good Life, on being single
Edited by Bhaichand Patel
Penguin
Bhaichand Patel would rather have called this collection of essays ‘love, lust and loose living.’ But “the essays you find here make it clear that there is more to chasing the good life than debauchery.”
A columnist well-known for his laugh lines, Bhaichand Patel is a regular in the Delhi party circuit. And the list of contributors in this collection, mainly Delhiites, who have bravely shared their single status stories are, not surprisingly, well-known bylines in mainstream media.  
This collection of urban stories has given the word ‘single’ a wide reach. If you live alone you qualify. So you could be married but separated, married but a widow or widower and married but living (happily) in different cities due to career constraints.
But the ‘true’ singles as Patel— himself married but separated for the past 23 years— says are the ones who never took the plunge. However, there are not many of them in this collection.
The chosen single life then can be difficult emotionally and financially. But these difficulties don’t seem to overwhelm any of the authors in the collection. And why should it for it is meant to be a ‘breezy, witty, sassy’ collection on the joys of singlehood.
There’s Khuswant Singh’s ‘A widower’s notes on living alone’ where in a not-so-subtle way he puts across the message that his friends are welcome but have to maintain the deadline of 8 pm. Of course, his opening line on the biggest advantage of being single is the “freedom to fart without being embarrassed,” (now, who can argue with that one) sets the tone for the various kinds of ‘freedom’ the contributors enjoy.
Humra Quraishi’s moving piece... “if this is destiny... simply flow with it.”; Veena Kapur’s wild and whacky... “I’m still with the same old suitcase, the only baggage I’m still carrying from my failed marriage.
“The suitcase has survived, like me, a little battered, a little hurt, older, but still here...”; Kanika Gahlaut’s witty take on the two types of friends a single girl in Delhi gets to have; Suhel Seth’s learner’s guide on how women can be seduced in Delhi (does he really practice what he preaches?); S Nihal Singh’s cry freedom... the feeling of being alone. Not lonely; Sheela Reddy’s appealing married single— yet all of these primarily paint a picture of the perfect SAS— single and satisfied.
Well in a way it is a reassuring book because it shows the commonalty of sufferings and the triumph of love if you have the will to look positively at your partner... and conclude it is better to be single than forgiving!

Chasing the Good Life, on being single
Edited by Bhaichand Patel
Penguin