Contents: 1. Nobody's child. 2. Ground floor flat. 3. Ration office. 4. The song of the snake. 5. Ulcers. 6. Pilgrimage. 7. Lake. 8. A toast to herself. 9. Heart patient. 10. Once, in Chittor. 11. Rubble. 12. At the temple. 13. The illusion of home. 14. Transitions. 15. God of repose. 16. Madness. 17. Cat. 

"The seventeen stories in this collection are about women driven to the edge of society. They are there because of major breaks from family and tradition they have felt compelled to make in order to remain true to themselves. They try to somehow redeem the beauty, truth and poetry of life smothered in dogmas. The women are tough. None of them has a breakdown. Working at their jobs in public, engaged in private in their secret lives of introspection and self-exploration, these women will weather all odds. They will reincarnate as women become whole, in harmony with themselves and the realities outside. These fascinating stories will grip the attention of the growing number of women engaged in defining themselves, and also sensitive readers at all levels."