My Temporary Son

I was a contented, elderly man, not looking to be immersed in any emotional cauldrons . . . and then, unexpectedly, Bhima came along, skewing all my calculations.

On a hot June evening, Tim Murari returns home from a game of tennis to find a thin baby lying on his bed and watching him through large, bewildered eyes. ‘He’ll be here a few days,’ his wife, Maureen, tells him. ‘When he’s well, he’ll go back to the orphanage.’

Having played host to other orphaned house guests before they moved on to adoptive parents abroad, Tim assumes that once the wound from his recent surgery has healed, Bhima will do the same.

But Bhima brings much more to their lives than Tim and Maureen have bargained for. With the unquestioning faith that can only be a child’s, he surrenders himself to their care, and with his quiet resilience in the face of excruciating physical pain, his mischievous pranks and unusual intelligence, he takes complete possession of their hearts. Before long, Tim, who has never been comfortable with children, finds himself busy learning to be a father and loving every moment.

Their joy is short-lived, however, for Bhima’s destiny lies elsewhere. His adoptive parents are about to arrive in India to meet him, and Tim and Maureen have to confront reality and agonizing doubts about their decision for Bhima’s future.

An intensely moving account of the eleven months that changed Tim Murari’s life, My Temporary Son offers us an intimate glimpse into the convoluted corridors of the adoption process in India and the emotional turmoil that accompanies every case of adoption. It is, equally, an inspiring tribute to the countless people, in our country and abroad, who have it in their hearts to love and nurture children who have been abandoned by those closest to them.

‘‘ ‘An exceptional and an emotional book’ —Tribune‘Tim maintains dignity in his prose while infusing it with a certain enchantment that comes from his clear and beautiful language’—Hindu‘A sensitive, moving story… concise and poignant’ —Sahara Time