First and foremost, I am grateful to a few extraordinary women: Suzanne Gluck and Fiona Baird, my agents at William Morris, who believed in this book and championed it; Jennifer Barth at HarperCollins, whose vision for what this book could be made it richer and better in countless ways; and Himanjali Sankar and Faiza Khan at Bloomsbury, who made it possible for this book to live in India, making final edits with intelligence and grace. Thank you to everyone who touched this book at HarperCollins and Bloomsbury.
I also owe thanks to many talented people who suffered through interviews at different stages of my research, including: Anand Giridharadas, Aroon Tikekar, Mariam Dossal, Jim Masselos, Jerry Pinto, Sujata Patel, Paromita Vohra, Rhea Tembhekar, Vihang Vahia, Siddhartha Shah, Santosh Desai, Sidin Vadukut, Ramachandra Guha, Sudhir Kakar, and Wendy Doniger.
This book would not have been made without the encouragement and wisdom of my professors at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, especially Robert Boynton, Brooke Kroeger, and Suketu Mehta, who understands Mumbai as no one else does. I am particularly indebted to Katie Roiphe for her mentorship, intelligence, and generosity.
I am also lucky to have had the workshops of fellow writers at NYU: Will Hunt, Laura Smith, Meryl Kremer, Alistair Mackay, Kate Newman, Colin Warren-Hicks, and Meghan White. I am fortunate to have had the guidance of Sidharth Bhatia and Peter Griffin, who are incomparable editors and dear friends.
Joel Gunter, Imran Mujawar, Manish Alimchandi, and Madeline Gressel read sections of this book and made it far better. Daniel Stone dragged me to the library and kept me sane. Emily Brush, Stevie Dunning, Bianca Elder, Katie Reisner, Reilly Nelson, Swati Gauri Sharma, and Ali Withers kept me going, along with my DC family Sam Sanders and Zora Neale, who are my happy place.
There are a couple places and people that became my refuge at the end, including the DC Writers Room and Alexandra Zapruder there, as well as the Northeast Regional Library, whose librarians are trusty and kind.
My family was a refuge throughout, especially Jeff Flock, who believes in me and truly made this book possible, Gretchen Rubin, who edited drafts in bed and on planes, Charles Rubin, who sent butterflies to Mumbai and taught me to “accomplish the mission,” Elizabeth Brack, whose words and notes sustain me, and Jane, Lucy, Claire, and Emily, who are my lifeblood.
There are a few to whom I, and this book, owe a special debt: Nick Bernel, who stood beside me when it was difficult. Lance Richardson, a brilliant and generous friend, and a north star. Abhishek Raghunath and Arathi Jayaram, who showed me India and taught me to love it. And Maya, Veer, Ashok, Parvati, Shahzad, and Sabeena, who made me want to stay.