The first slap on your bottom as you come into the world tells you that your days of mollycoddling are over. The sooner you understand that, the better you are prepared for the pain and the unhappiness.' Kushank Purandare is a writer living off the generosity of friends and lovers. There is the ex-flame Aroti, who is now another man's wife and whom he refuses to pity; Mrs Reghla alias Kaku who has gouged her eyes out; old Kathavte who lives upstairs and beats his daughters; Raghu whom he accompanies to a famine-struck village where gangsters rule the roost. Disillusioned with the lack of certainty and empathy in a world that is largely incoherent and unsalvageable, Kushank drifts about wallowing in his past and doing odd jobs. Written in Marathi, Kiran Nagarkar's first book, Saat Sakkam Trechalis - with its dark humour and volatile prose is considered a landmark in post-Independence Indian literature. This new edition will introduce the brilliance of Kiran Nagarkar to a new generation of readers.