Books

These are the novels I have written over the last fifteen years:  

More about my books

The Confession of Sultana Daku is a fictional reconstruction of the legend of Sultana Daku, a fearsome bandit who terrorized the United Provinces of British India in the 1920s.

Le Trône Du Paon is the French edition of The Peacock Throne.

The Peacock Throne is set in Chandni Chowk in modern Delhi. It picks its way through the tumultuous events of the last twenty-five years: the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the protests against the Mandal Commission, the demolition of Babri Masjid, and the fractious elections of 1996 and 1998.  Here is a description of the novel from Amazon. I have edited it a little: 

October 31, 1984 begins like any other day for Gopal Pandey as he sets up his tea stall in a lane off Chandni Chowk - the most magnificent and crowded street in all Delhi. At its head lies Red Fort, once the home of the gem-encrusted Peacock Throne, symbol of the Mughal Empire's dazzling might, and of its downfall. By the end of the day, Indira Gandhi has been assassinated, violent riots have erupted and Gopal is the bemused possessor of a large sum of money. Fourteen turbulent years and four dramatic turning points in Indian history later, this near-blind, bumbling man stands on the verge of immense political power. Gopal's unlikely journey is a tale of accidents, scheming, murder and tragedy, religious and political rivalries, corruption and hubris. Irreverent, farcical and as enlightening as it is entertaining, The Peacock Throne is a novel of breathtaking scope and reach, which looks deep into the heart of human nature and into the soul of modern India.

What A Nice Fire is a fictionalized account of my one year as an assistant professor at IIT Delhi. It begins by recounting my return to Delhi, then veers into fictional, violent and fantastic events that are much more interesting than my experiences.

Birds On The Bough is a premature autobiography, written when I turned twenty-five. Instead of recounting events in my life - of which there weren't many - I described the world as I was growing up: the town where I spent my childhood, my boarding school in Darjeeling, my days as a student at IIT Delhi, the Mandal Commission, and the circumstances that led to most of my friends going to the USA.

Limbo is the first novel most of us write. It describes the world as seen by a boy growing up in a town in Bihar. It is written as a series of essays on the people around him. The plot evolves as the book moves from one essay to another.