This novel begins in a comfortable Calcutta neighbourhood where the sons and daughters of the well-to-do have perfected the art of transforming themselves into street urchins. After school and at night, mostly on the threshold of adolescence, they eagerly mix with fascinating visitors from the edge of town who carry the seeds of Calcutta's legendary social unrest. Their political activity takes place in the carnival atmosphere of the city's streets and markets, until a bloody political clash turns them into adults before their time. While they inevitably grow up and grow apart, their lives remain inextricably linked by the carnage and cover-up they were powerless to do anything but witness. Rude, a young rebel with a cause, keeps a diary that is confiscated by a corrupt anti-terrorist police officer. Twenty years later, Nina, who might have loved Rude, decides at all costs to recover the diary and the history that was stolen from them. Set mainly in Calcutta, Houston, and briefly in Montreal, this novel intertwines humour and despair until the human condition is laid bare and recovery is finally complete.