Publisher's Synopsis
'A birth mark on the right shoulder! And one as big and as dark as that! Arre baap re! This is of some terrible significance. . .'
Despite his grandmother's gloomy prophecy, Rattan grows up leading a charmed life - first in Delhi, then at Boston University. When he returns to Delhi, and the family business, Rattan is happy to fall in with his parents' plans for an arranged marriage: his young bride is somewhat dazzled by the splendour of her new home but her husband is handsome and the prospects look good. Then Tanvi is found dead - suicide or murder? Rattan takes a job in Cairo to put the past behind him. Here he meets Nalini, daughter of the Indian Ambassador to Egypt. Chafing under the lack of freedom while accepting diplomatic duties since the death of her mother, she is drawn towards Rattan. He never finds the right moment to tell her of his dead first wife, and when she finds out, she resolves to discover the truth about Tanvi's death.
