Urban Buddha is a philosophical fiction that derives sustenance from the Gita and Upanishads on fundamental questions on life. It contrasts Indian thought with the popular western view on the subject through the lens of rationality and reasoning. The Socratic Dialogue genre of the work helps connect with the characters of the story. As the discussion advances, these characters tend to verbalise questions arising in our own minds, and one can visualise participating in the discussion, agreeing and arguing with them. A good length of the book is an engaging exchange of dialogues between the four elderly gentlemen of diverse backgrounds. Along with this central stream flows another thought stream of the narrator's memory lane. He reminisces over the events of his own life as he gets absorbed in the conversation, taking the readers to the broken, bumpy roads of his hometown and to the temple on its outskirts, where he first experienced an episode of trance. He shares the conflict between his head and heart and his extraordinary encounter with the mystic fakir.