The hilarious novel describes an Indian student's one year spent in a small university campus in the U.S. He comes from a small town, locally reputed as the 'Paris of Madhya Pradesh'. His English is comically Indian, and his initial notions of America are absurdly Indian, inadequate and stereotyped.

The theme of the novel is his comic discovery of America, and his own growth and maturing through his diverse adventures there. This novel has a acuteness and a depth of meaning which go beyond the obvious comic implications of the chosen initial situation.