Writing a short essay is generally perceived to be more of a difficult job than writing an essay of about a thousand or more words. A short essay consisting of around five hundred words tests one’s understanding of the given topic, sense of precision, and lucidity of language. To be able to get to the very pulse of the subject matter is a skill which you have to learn through continuous practice and application of thought.

The essays in this collection are brief but cover a variety of topics ranging from the political and socio-economic to the abstract and reflective, some even offbeat and a bit unconventional. Some of the topics have been deliberately devised to encourage a kind of lateral thinking—a thinking that induces the reader to consider propositions and arguments which might seem far-fetched at the first instance. The essays are expected to stimulate one think about questioning every established notion in order to arrive at one’s own point of view. Rich in imagination and original in approach, they are likely to be of interest to the lay reader as well as those studying for examinations at various levels—from high school to competitive.