Published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2019 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi 110002 Sales centres: Allahabad Bengaluru Chennai Hyderabad Jaipur Kathmandu Kolkata Mumbai Copyright © Nalin Verma 2019 First published in the United States of America by Brotherhood of Life Inc. 1986. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-93-5333-662-2 Eighth impression 2022 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 The moral right of the author has been asserted. This edition is for sale in the Indian subcontinent only. Printed at Repro India Limited, India This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publisher’s prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.