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Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. PART ONE
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. PART TWO
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. PART THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. EPILOGUE
  61. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  62. BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE

“This is for you.”

He took the valise from me and opened it up. “Ah, finally. Been waiting a long time for this.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

BOMBAY

MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 1975, 6:48 A.M.

Willy had given me cash for a room in Kathmandu, but I had an idea of how to impress him and save him some money at the same time. It meant catching a late flight back to Bombay via Delhi and sleeping in the Dadar Central Station waiting room for a few hours. I was already filthy, wet, and exhausted from my thirty-six hours of travel, so I figured why not? A little before seven, the Bombay-Poona Intercity Express chugged out of the station, and I was back at Poona Junction a couple of minutes after 10:00 a.m.

“Danny? What are you doing here?” asked Willy once Govind had shown me in. “Didn’t you make my delivery?”

“The brassieres? Yes, of course.”

He frowned. “So you opened the valise? I’m disappointed. I feel as if you didn’t trust me.”

“It wasn’t me. The customs officer in Kathmandu opened it. Sorry.”

Now he smiled, his long teeth so much whiter than the king’s. “Well done, Danny Boy. Forgive me for doubting you.”

I handed him the empty valise. Then I held out the cash he’d given me for the hotel.

“Didn’t need it after all,” I said.

He took it and looked me up and down. “You are a mess.”

“He smells, too.” That was Sushmita, turning up her nose at me. “What did you do, sleep in a train station? Go have a bath, Danny. And burn your clothes.”

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TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1975, 8:19 A.M.

“Masala chai,” announced Govind, placing the cup before me.

I thanked him and took up the newspaper he’d left, folded with a paperweight on top to prevent it from fluttering under the ceiling fan. I glanced at the headlines. There’d been a coup in East Timor, and the united Vietnam had been denied a seat in the UN, thanks to a U.S. Security Council veto. Also, the thirty-ninth amendment to the Indian Constitution took effect, prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting prime minister. That story didn’t appear in the Indian papers that Tuesday, of course. I learned of that later.

I turned to the matrimonial ads, certain there would be nothing. There never was. But I was wrong. In the third column on the second page was an ad for a twenty-nine-year-old divorcée with a limp and a mild skin condition.

I checked my watch. It was nearing eight thirty. I had an hour and a half before the appointment at Dorabjee’s. I could have breakfast then excuse myself to go for a walk. On North Main Road there were taxis and auto rickshaws. No problem.