Hilarious, lyrical, witty and disturbing, these three different tales all point to the question: if all our dreaming ends in distortion and disappointment, what may we do? Write ourselves off as a failed species and let climate change lead us to well-deserved oblivion? Or keep trying to do better with more humility and an acceptance that perfection remains a distant signpost?

In “Bad People”, Ravana, Shupi and Kumbh manage to make the world veer from its destructive course and buy time for us. Ravana, of course, belongs to epic—but how does he fit into the twenty-first century? With the help of Grandma Ketumati’s balm, these three “bad” people outwit  contemporary villains.

In “Heart’s Desire”, an old woman seeks to  make a bargain with the devil, but the devil isn’t interested, and she finds herself stuck with two angels. She and the angels do their best, but the old woman learns that a happy end and heart’s desire are not synonymous.

And in “The Dream Book”, based on The Tempest, Caliban, Miranda, Prospero and the rest find that their dreams clash and lie there as pretty and pitiless as glass shards. Yet, each time they engage once again in this dangerous pursuit.