Political instability
Many stories focus on conspiracies, like Chekov and Zulu, in which two spies research the potential connection between wealthy Sikhs in Britain and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, or in The Free Radio which discusses the government conspiracy to sterilize the poor.
Differences between Eastern and Western culture
Sometimes the point of a story is to distinguish certain features of Eastern or Western life, like the auction of Dorothy's ruby slippers to those who believe in their magic powers (a picture of Western entertainment and escapism, perhaps), or like the picture we see of young Hamlet hanging out with Yorick the court jester (in Shakespeare's play, Yorick's skull is held up by Hamlet in one of the most famous scenes of Western history).
Similarities between Eastern and Western culture
Other stories focus on the similarity of the two cultural modes, like the Harmony of the Spheres, which is about mental illness, mental health, and the universal dilemma of human suffering. As the title of the collection suggests, there is something universal about human nature and human suffering.
