Displaced from the tradition-bound life in crowded bazaars and the security of a large joint family, the protagonist grows up in an atmosphere where things connected with his past are almost mocked. It is in this air of rootlessness that K, as the protagonist is referred to through the book, grows from a boy tied to the apron strings of his mother into a philosopher, teacher and journalist.

The book is more a study of characters than a narration of events and has its focus on a vision, however distant, and an attempt at self-discovery. A journey into the surreal.

Readers of Bengali thrillers are familiar with the works of this author featuring the adventures of Kakababu and his teenaged sidekick Shantu.

Raja Roychowdhury, a former bureaucrat-turned-crime fighter, popularly known a Kakababu, and Shantu have taken time off their crime fighting routine and are in a small town near Kolkata, organising a theatrical performance that their host wants to put up in aid of the local school that needs major reconstruction after a devastating flood. As the rehearsals proceed, the lead actor is kidnapped and that sets the duo on the trial of a criminal gang that has its tentacles spread all over the state. Some international syndicate has assigned this gang the task of blowing up airports, bridges and railway stations. Kakababu is kidnapped, taken to Kolkata, turned into a human bomb and forced into the Writers Building, the nerve centre of the state’s administration, to recover for the gang its electronic notebook which has fallen in the hands of the police, which is trying to decipher its coded contents.

Meanwhile, Shantu, who is following a lead to the kidnapped boy, is also taken captive elsewhere and time is running out on both. A remarkably dare-devil act by Kakababu foils the designs of the gang and a last-minute recourse by an accomplice of the kidnappers leads Shantu to the boy for whose release the gang had demanded a huge ransom.

This is one of a series of mystery tales woven by the author who currently is Associate Editor of "Desh," a Bengali weekly of repute.

A number of newspaper readers first look for Laxman’s cartoons so as to have a smile before moving on to bombings, terrorist attacks, strikes, dharnas, and other items that can wipe out all signs of happiness from one’s face. But perhaps not many are aware of Laxman’s ability to produce English prose as charming as his cartoons. Here is a collection of some of his fine pieces divided into three sections — short stories, essays and travelogues. There is a mystery story in which a newspaper is used as a murder weapon. Then we see how a small sleepy town is metamorphosed when the Viceroy pays it a visit. A little girl makes an interesting discovery in the hustle-bustle of a wedding. In every story you find Laxman’s ability to describe a person or a moment as deftly as he draws his lines to depict the objects of his cartoons. His travelogues about the USA, Australia, the Andamans, Darjeeling, Mauritius and Kathmandu are specimens of Laxman’s unique way of looking at things.

Another remarkable part of the book is the illustrations done by Laxman, which are sure to attract the reader as much as the pieces themselves.