Naked in the Wind

‘Who knows what I am? Who cares? I don’t ever step into a church and if I go to the temple it’s only to look at the bangle stalls on the big festival days.’

Without warning a family on Campbell Street wakes up to the return of a long-lost member: Vasu. After nearly fifteen years of unexplained absence he turns up suddenly, accompanied by Anand, his mysterious caretaker. They are met by Vasu's family, including his long-suffering wife Shanti and their children, Priya and Vivek; their beautiful, strong-willed, yet insecure neighbour Kathy; and the feisty, flirtatious maid-servant Rani. In the days that follow, the two men become the centre of attention and conflict. The residents of Campbell Street attempt to understand the mystery of their companionship even as rumours gather: of men fleeing justice only to regroup and recover their strength before the next onslaught on religious sanity, of money being collected to fund temples, and of a personal obsession that threatens to destroy the entire community.

In a series of first-person narratives, unusual characters like Sapna, the eunuch queen of a touring circus, and Railway Track, who alternates between bouts of insanity and the occasional moment of utter lucidity, take the plot forward without pause. Driven by emotionally charged encounters between individuals on the one hand and unexpected collisions between individuals and society on the other, Naked in the Wind shows us new ways of understanding a country in transition, where religious and communal identities have begun to define the very nature of existence.