This is a curious mix of memoirs, sketches and essays. Ably translated it describes India as it was before independence through a series of encounters. As Fuid and absorbing as stories, the portraits are marked by a deep sense of authorial empathy.

Also, rarely have the common people of that period been represented so vividly and the work gives us a remarkable insight into their modes of thought,

social norms and religious beliefs-in the process of being redefined but still faithfully pursued by the simple folk who believed in the permanence of the old ways.