India, 1904. The young and dashing Sultan Kowaishi has just returned from London to Bombay after passing his barrister exam. Among the first persons he meets is Mohammed Ali Jinnah, already an advocate of note, and is quickly drawn to him. It is also the time when Jinnah decides to join the Indian National Congress, soon to become its brightest star. The stir against the British rule holds no interest for Sultan but it attracts his wife Rehana, and, inexorably, weaves its way into their lives. In this brilliant saga of love and betrayal, pain and redemption, set amidst the long struggle for freedom and its terrible twin, the call for Pakistan, we confront questions that are as relevant today as they were a hundred years ago. Questions of identity, of purpose, of the shackles of a thousand memories . . .

About the Author

Kiran Doshi studied history, politics and law in Bombay before joining the Indian Foreign Service in 1962 for a 35-year-long career which not infrequently saw him tackling relations with Pakistan, always an important, exciting but ultimately frustrating task. He is the author of Birds of Passage, a ‘greatly engrossing and hilarious’ novel set in the world of India-Pakistan-USA diplomacy, and Diplomatic Tales, short stories written in comic verse. He lives in Delhi with his wife Razia.