This book is about people who lived militancy in Punjab. It is about their journey over the precipice and back. There are ten of them who do their telling here. One is the son of the man who was at the helm of it all, the larger-than-life figure who inspired jihadi zeal in Punjab. There are others who became his footsoldiers.

Then, there are the children living in the shadow of the father, who, fired by the collective angst over Operation Bluestar, shot down the Indian prime minister he was duty-bound to protect.