If I were to stop to think about the random acts of wackiness that life hurled at me during my teenage years, it’s a wonder that I actually made it to adulthood. Growing up in a dysfunctional Punjabi household in Bombay’s late eighties was not the easiest task in the world, but it was certainly soul-strengthening. So when I sat down to write a story about a teen in my native city, my first thought was: How difficult could it be?
Talk about being naïve! Firstly, Bombay had long since become Mumbai, a multi-layered transformation that transcended pure semantics. The landscape had changed, the slang was different and understanding the context of Mumbai’s young adults was like hiking an uphill course. The good news is that I like hiking and am always up for a challenge. So once I got going, the story began to flow.
But even the most entertaining of stories require a supportive cast of characters. So there’s a bunch of people I’d like to thank for helping me bring this one to the page:
My daughter Ilya Hora and my mother Veena Malhotra – they continue to exemplify the insanity that comes from being the daughter of a mother and the mother of a daughter.
My husband Neeraj Hora, my son AryaVir Hora and my dog Dumbledore – for skilfully stepping into the sidelines when the female energy in the household gets overpowering (which is all too often the case).
My sister-in-law Ashima Arora for her fine academic advice. Thank gosh for physics teachers … and family!
My childhood buddy Maleeka Lala and my colleague Noreen Mir – for being fantastic friends and literary inspirations. That’s two for the price of one as far as I’m concerned.
My super agent Kanishka Gupta – for encouraging me to pitch this story to publishers.
The team at HarperCollins India for all the time and effort they have put into this book – Neelini Sarkar, Prema Govindan, Shuka Jain, Amit Sharma, Rajeev Sethi. And all the others – Iti Khurana, Sameer Mahale and their teams – who will take over once the book hits the godown and the stores.
Jojy Philip for making the book look fantastic and for camping out at the HarperCollins India office to carry out the corrections.
All the readers of this book – thank you for the audience.
And last but not least, George Michael of Wham! – without you, my teen years would have had no definition!