It did feel strange to see her lying cold and silent and then being carried away . . . But at the back of my mind was this growing anticipation-Sanjiv Maama was taking me to Mumbai!

When Gopal's mother dies, his uncle brings him to Mumbai to get a job because he has few prospects as a Dalit boy in a UP village.

Gopal is cast into the unfamiliar world of Squatters Colony, where he has no family or friends. He gets his first job at the bicycle shop owned by the sage Chacha and rapidly makes friends with the strange and diverse people who live in the community-Chacha's friendly daughter-in-law, the neighbourhood thug Raja, the three-legged Tiger and beautiful Ayesha.

And he learns that when disaster strikes and lives fall apart, he too has a family in the gully.

Zarin Virji's gripping debut describes the raw rollicking life of Mumbai's small neighbourhoods with vigour and zest.