I wish to acknowledge my debt to four ladies, all beautiful in their own ways, to whom I turned for advice: Sharda Kaushik, Mrinal Pande, Usha Albuquerque and Sheela Reddy—Sheela, especially, for going over the manuscript.
I also acknowledge my debt to Naina Dayal for her assistance, and to Ravi Singh who edited my text and gave shape to a shapeless mass of events narrated in the novel.