India, Sept. 13 -- As the novel begins, we find the protagonist, Nirvana, waking up on a Sunday afternoon, nursing a hangover from a three-day binge. He's in his single room apartment in Chuim Village, a Catholic settlement in Khar. The events of the weekend come to him in flashes: the launch of a designer store, an after-party on a Worli terrace, a rum-soaked brunch at Sea Princess, and an altercation at Janta bar in Pali Naka, Bandra.

He rummages through "an overflowing ashtray for last night's half-smoked spliff, finally locating it within the folds of the bedsheet, which now has a large hot rock burnt through it. Said hot rock has also penetrated the surface of the mouldy mattress underneath." He locates the lighter in his shoe. This...