A rumour that ends in calamity; A girl who is demonised because of her ‘evil’ horoscope; A man who preys upon young girls; A train journey that forces a woman to look at her marriage anew; The gorgeous inner life of a shop girl; A child overwhelmed by the wonder and terror of his world. Set in Kolkata and Delhi, the stories in this collection deal with love and betrayal, dogma and superstition, sexuality and thwarted desires. The characters belong to the world of urban, aspirational India where snobbery and rat race go hand in hand with class and religious conflicts. Dark or funny, satirical or poignant, these stories are as much a snapshot of modern India as they are an intense crystallisation of the unpredictable chaos of life.