Book excerpt: Aslam Chisti, a young Pakistani officer, is faced with a difficult choice war explodes, tearing apart his country.... As tanks and soldiers prowl through East Pakistan, which is fighting to emerge as a sovereign nation: Bangladesh, Chisti who has been posted to the war zone, is taken prisoner by Bangladeshi guerrillas. To further complicate matters, the young officer falls in love with the enemy-the beautiful daughter of a Bengali princess in whose mansion Chisti is placed under house arrest.... In this novel Manohar Malgonkar gives us an enthralling tale of love, valour, manhood and the brutalities of war.