First published in English in 2015 by Harper Perennial

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers


First published in Hindi in 2011 by Rajkamal Prakashan


Copyright for the original text in Hindi © Vikas Kumar Jha

Translation copyright © Mahasweta Ghosh

P.S. photo copyright © Brijesh Patel and Vikas Kumar Jha


P-ISBN: 978-93-5136-572-3


Epub Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 978-93-5136-573-0


2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Vikas Kumar Jha asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.


This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.


All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By Payment of the

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HarperCollins Publishers India.


Cover design © HarperCollins Publishers India

Cover and inside images Brijesh Patel  


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