A POWERFUL COLLECTION OF STORIES SPANNING A TUMULTUOUS DECADE IN INDIA'S RECENT SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY. Each of the six stories in this arresting volume cleverly captures the interplay between the personal and the political while exploring the everyday existence of Indians across different social strata. A landowner contemptuous of political activism finds it taking root in his own home. A couple's holiday takes a surprising turn when they initiate a role-playing game. In a traditional akhara in northern India, caste drives the plot as much as the characters' will. A woman's marriage quickly morphs into an endless series of humiliations-until she decides to do something about it. The tales are set in different parts of the country: a small town in Karnataka, a temple town and a village across the border in Kerala, cosmopolitan Chennai and Bengaluru, and a farm near Hathras in Uttar Pradesh. They explore a range of themes, from gender violence to pandemic lockdowns and cyber fraud, fusing incisive social commentary with deeply evocative emotional truths. In doing so, they take the reader on a transformative journey, both disturbing and memorable.