Book description
'Balzac could not have done better' -The Financial Express In this
sparkling collection of stories, India's best-known writer addresses
some pertinent questions: Why do we believe in miracles? Can a horoscope
guarantee the perfect wife? Is the Kamasutra a useful manual for
newlyweds? Margaret Bloom arrives in Haridwar from New York to save her
soul. But she soon discovers that there are temptations even on the
banks of the holy Ganga. Madan Mohan Pandey, amateur astrologer and
scholar of ancient Hindu texts, finds to his horror that his doe-like
bride is not quite what he had expected. Pious Zora Singh, Pride of the
Nation, rumoured to be a chaar sau bees and a womanizer, silences his
detractors by earning the Bharat Ratna. Devi Lal makes his peace with a
fickle God when his daughter-in-law delivers a son, following secret
visits to the Peer Sahib's tomb. And Vijay Lall, emboldened by his
miraculous escape from death, decides to act upon his silent obsession
with Karuna Chaudhury, which takes him to a shifty soothsayer behind the
Khan Market loo. Khushwant Singh returns to the short story after
decades to deliver a truly memorable collection-humorous, provocative,
tongue-in-cheek, ribald and even, at times, tender.
