zu behändigen im bärigen Stübchen für Mitglieder - it waits in the cupboard for members to be picked up in beautiful Appenzellerland.

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picked it at the meet-up

Pran Nath is a spoiled youth, only son of a rich Brahman in Agra who is thrown out and disinherited when they discover that he is a mongrel, originating from a one night stand between his deceased mother and an English man. Pran who never had to move a finger in his life, finds himself in the streets of Agra without money. He is hungry and tired and has nothing than his good (white) looks. At first he is sold into a hijra brothel and becomes the slave of a pedophile English colonel. Pran manages to escape during a hunting party ...
We find him again in Bombay, where he became "Clive", a servant and son substitute for an English couple who lives separatet through a brick wall. He is an stubborn, obstinate preacher - she discovered the world of spirituality and partakes at "satanic" spiritual sessions.

That's about in the middle of the book, not sure whether I can read much further. I dragged myself through the story, it's so boring. Maybe because this not really likeable Pran/Clive (who later will study in Oxford and accompany an explorer to Africa) is such a bore? Like an empty plastic bottle he floats on top of the water, is always somehow saved by circumstances, he drifts along opportunities, is a random chameleon and a feeble figure.
Instead onto his hero, the author rather focalises on the historical background. But do I have to read about the Amritsa Massacre for the umpteenth time? Or about the history of the nawabs in Fatehpur Sikri? I doubt that this story gets any better.

PS: this book is in a very bad state. Be careful at reading, and try not to loosen the pages even more.

it's on the shelf