From being mistaken for a faith healer to being mistaken for a woman, the two dozen stories and vignettes in this collection describe some of the interesting incidents in Ninad Jog's life. When a woman approaches him and asks for money, he has to decide in an instant whether to accede to her demand. He wonders what he should tell an Israeli tourist who asks which country he considers to be his home. As a child, Ninad has no qualms about demanding a bottle of orange soda from his uncle. But as an adult, he agonizes over buying his father a small container of whole milk. Written in a plain,...

This book chronicles the exploits of a boy named Vinod, and paints a vivid picture of life in his community in early 1970s Pune, India. Often taunted for being a sissy, Vinod likes to wear a dot on his forehead and have henna painted on his hands. He plays with his friends Kedar, Nilima, and Sentil, who ostracize him at times for one reason or another. He is disappointed when Mr. Zante, an adult whom he reveres, tells him to stop indulging in his favorite pastime of killing ants. Vinod is convinced that a sparrow that visits his home understands him. His sneaky side is revealed soon after he...

An elderly man picks up a gun that he stumbles upon, takes aim, and pulls the trigger. Little does he know that it belongs to his wife or that it is loaded. Meanwhile, his son has been crying himself hoarse praising the American Constitution's Second Amendment, the right to possess and bear arms. The elderly man is the author's father, while his Second-Amendment-loving son is the author, Ninad Jog. Based on incidents from Jog's life in the United States and India, the twenty-eight anecdotes and musings in this book take the reader on an exuberant tour of his school years, family life, being...