... Hamlet, "though this be madness there is method in' it." As a preface to the actual happenings in the life of Sampath and his days of hermit-glory in the guava orchard, the authoress, through the introduction gives us an outline of the eccentric characters in her novel. The authoress, at the start gives a portrayal of the rain-deprived town of Shahkot. She describes the summer, which refused to end, the literal condition of draught and famine, which 'made even the butcher turn vegetarian' in a very ambiguous manner interspersed with ironies which just help in mounting the reader's curiosity. The authoress describes Sampath's grandmother as a clichéd old Indian woman, with beliefs that had no evidence and with tales that had an unknown origin.. It was 'Ammaji' as she is referred to, who gave Kulfi {Sampath's mother} traditional Indian, tips of precautions during her pregnancy like "make sure you smell nice ...

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