Half GirlfriendHalf Girlfriend follows Madhav, a Hindispeaking Bihari boy from a middleclass background who enrolls at the prestigious St. Stephens College in Delhi, where he falls deeply in love with Riya, an affluent, confident city girl. Though Madhav proposes to her, Riya declines, insisting they remain friends, yet she eventually agrees to be his half girlfriend, a term that reflects the complicated, modern nature of their relationship. Set across Bihar, Delhi,

She has to tint Goldilock's hair (it's really rather mousy-brown

his influence on the genre

were heading north for a holiday

the pain of alienation and the legacy of shame

has sent 11 ambulances to Syria

writing fresh lives into our literary tradition' DALJIT NAGRA

the real Maria

Real life is whacky and in-your-face

It’s shoot first and ask questions later

* What to do when you feel overwhelmed or stuck

sinister and disturbing’

and his eventual foray into writing channels the confusion of his experience into something finally resembling redemption