Bhopal ’92 A Novel

On 7 December 1992, Bhopal descends into chaos as angry mobs disrupt a government official’s tranquil commute to work. The harrowing aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya a day earlier casts a shadow over the city, thrusting its inhabitants into a maelstrom of fear and uncertainty. Against the backdrop of flames licking the sky, and polarised mobs drowning out pleas for peace, a gripping saga unfolds, laying bare the violent rupture of communitarian harmony in Bhopal.

The tightly-packed narrative of this novel—enclosed within four tumultuous days and nights—provides a riveting frame for its events and characters, all set within and around the sprawling campus of a telephone exchange. This exchange, like the characters in the novel, stands on the blurred borderline between Bhopal’s old and newer neighbourhoods.