Book excerpt: It is the story of Tim - a bookshop proprietor, his wife, Sandy - an Indian, who are left helpless when the government decides to disenfranchise Indians in their country and Michael Manmohan Ram, who hears of the injustice about to be perpetrated and decides to leave the order and comfort of life in Australia to engage in an act of 'terrorism'. Michael stays with his childhood friend, Tim and finds that he is no longer what he thought he was; that he is now looking at the world through his Western lens. To succeed in his mission he has to try to convince Tim to join forces with him. He also needs the help of Thakur - the deposed Prime Minister, who is now more interested in listening to ghazals than getting his hands dirty in politics. As Michael goes about preparing himself for his day of reckoning he finds that he is haunted by his past - his failed romances and his life lived in both India and Australia, which has the effect of pushing him further into delusion and self-absorption. Does Michael succeed in his act of defiance? Can he restore self-respect to a much maligned community? Is he able to save himself from extinction? In finding the answers to these questions, the reader will be able to view the response of an individual who has found what they were looking for and their behaviour when the first serious challenge to the notion of belonging, home and happiness arises. Through this, light is shed on the process through which 'terrorism' is born and the choices made by individuals who have nothing to lose.