Remember to Forget

The Punjab insurgency is over, and Ludhiana is trying to step out from under the shadow of the gun. Yet the past has not let go. Tejpal still cannot outrun a murderous mob in his dreams. Mr Bakshi is throwing parties again at his grand home, but they cannot cover the ache of lost innocence.

Gurjant Singh once styled himself the guardian of Sikh pride and is now a hired thug, hopelessly in love with a dancer named Sweety. Childlike Kailla, always the innocent bystander, is pushed out of his dreamy existence when the police come calling, and he has no answers for them.

This novel of interconnected lives is told with wit, empathy and understanding. Neelkamal Puri portrays a wounded city and the people in it, who survive by remembering to forget.