SynopsisWhat makes a fanatic? A fundamentalist? What makes communities that
have lived together for years suddenly discover a hatred for each other?
New Delhi, in the year 2000. Staff meetings, lesson modules, a half-hearted little
affair with a colleague-this is the bland but comfortable life of Shiv Murthy, a
history teacher in an open university. But disruption and change are on their
way-an outspoken young woman with a broken knee comes into his life and
turns it upside-down; then Hindu zealots attack his writings on Basava, the
reformer-poet. When fundamentalism lands on his own doorstep, Shiv discovers
that the ideas he has inherited-about history, nations and patriots-are liable to
shrink day by day. The time of siege is not exclusively Indian-prejudice speaks
different languages but has the same destructive message: 'Only trust those of
your kind.' With love, lust and a perverted nationalism at his heels, Shiv is forced
to confront the demands of his times and choose a direction for the future. But
first, he must come to terms with his own incomplete past, his fears, and his
obsession with a woman who will give him the strength he seeks.
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Binding: PaperBack
About the author
Githa Hariharan was born in Coimbatore and grew up in Bombay and Manila. She now lives in New Delhi. Hariharan's first novel, The Thousand Faces of Night, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. Her work since then includes the short story collection The Art of Dying, and the novels The Ghosts of Vasu Master, When Dreams Travel and In Times of Siege.
