Kalu, kidnapped from an orphanage at the age of fourteen and trained to pick pockets, is forced into a gang of thieves in Bangalore. When Babu, their ruthless gang leader, murders his best friend Ramesh, Kalu - fearing for his own life - runs away to Kolkata. While still being pursued by Babu he meets and falls in love with Tanya, a stunning and gifted career girl from an upper middle-class family. This powerful novel presents life in contemporary India with vivid realism. Evocative and beautifully written, with a love story at its heart, it embraces a wide range of human emotions and has many intensely dramatic scenes.