Contents: 1. The millennial vision. 2. Application. 3. Middle-class blues. 4. The assistants. 5. The associates. 6. Spirited scholars. 7. Assignations. 8. The visitor. 9. Dwaraka Tirumala. 10. Sermons in stones. 11. Batukamma. 12. Medaram Jatra. 13. The effulgence of death. 14. Crossroads. 15. The child and the puppy. 16. Amphibious men. 17. Apocalypse. Index.

"The book contains thirteen short stories and four sketches, several of which appeared in Kakatiya Journal of English Studies (Warangal) and Triveni (Hyderabad) since 1999.

The short stories deal with aspects of contemporary Indian life like the academia, brain drain, unemployment, political corruption, and middle-class existence. There is also the backdrop of the subcultures of Andhra and Telangana and the Hyderabad City. Interaction between the subcultures and between the Indian life and the American also has been depicted. The four sketches ("Sermons in Stones", "Batukamma", "Medaram Jatra" and "Dwaraka Tirumala") deal with the subcultures of Andhra and Telangana. The Indian subcultures constitute the warp and woof of the exquisite tapestry of the Indian life today." (jacket)