Jadu is twelve when his parents are burnt to death in front of his eyes, innocent bystanders in the struggle for power between the East India Company and the Nawab of Bengal. By a quirk of fate, he is drawn into the whirlwind of events that follow, till at last he stands face to face with the architect of his misfortune—Job Charnock himself.

Set in the later part of Aurangzeb’s reign, this work of historical fiction charts the turbulent history of an insignificant hutment that becomes one man’s unyielding obsession. It sets the stage for its subsequent metamorphosis from a humble trading post into Calcutta, the second-most important city in the British Empire.

In exploring the how, but more importantly, the why of this coming into being, it speaks of the motivations of the great and good and the helplessness of the not-so-great, all of whom form the mise en scène of the city’s birth. A poignant tale of the common folk, both homegrown and foreign, who watch unheeded while destinies are shaped by whims. Interwoven with verifiable historical events and many notable characters from history, it is above all the story of one innocent boy who navigates the maelstrom into which he is flung, and emerges victorious and hopeful.