New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- As far as opening lines of novels are concerned, The Higher Education of Geetika Mehendiratta by writer and scholar Anuradha Marwah makes a lasting first impression. "It was morning. I didn't have to go to college till 10.30 am," the chatty, eponymous narrator informs the reader. "There was nothing to do except cry, make a phone call or masturbate." It takes considerable chutzpah for a debut novelist to live up to this tone of droll, understated ennui-but Marwah, who currently teaches English at Delhi's Zakir Husain College, delivers on this promise abundantly.

First published in 1993, The Higher Education of Geetika Mehendiratta is one of India's earliest "campus novels", as the burb from its publisher claims. Rece...