The novel is set in the India of the 1950’s in the northernmost part of the State of West Bengal. It is a time of change and uncertainty. India has just recently become independent and a democratic republic. The Constitution of India has come into force. Nehru’s “Tryst with destiny…” is just beginning.
It was a time of great transition when there were still a few of the British left as managing agents and managers of tea gardens. The old generation of the members of the Indian Civil Service appointed in the colonial era was still in high positions of authority, while the new generation of young Indian Administrative Service officers was just taking charge.
You are transported into an India of 60 years ago in this realistic and absorbing depiction by B.S. Raghavan of the subtle inter-generational and inter-racial conflicts and friendships among the new rulers and business interests when the old order was yielding place to the new.
B.S. RAGHAVAN, IAS (Retd), formerly: Chief Secretary, Tripura; Director, Political & Security Policy Planning, Ministry of Home Affairs, India; Chairman-cum-Managing Director of four major public sector enterprises; Policy Adviser to UN(FAO), US Congressional Fellow; Chancellor of Jharkhand State ICFAI University.
At present he is a columnist, The Hindu Business Line and on the Board of Governors of various educational and social service institutions.
