The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Desai, Anita. Fire on the Mountain. Penguin, 1982.

Fire on the Mountain is divided into three parts, “Nanda Kaul at Carignano,” “Raka comes to Carignano,” and “Ila Das leaves Carignano,” each of which contains a series of short chapters. Part 1, “Nanda Kaul at Carignano,” opens with just that: Nanda Kaul listening to cicadas and meditating on her solitude until her peace was disturbed by the postman trekking up her road. Ram Lal walked down to meet the postman, and returned with a letter from Asha to Nanda Kaul informing her that Raka, her great-granddaughter would be coming to stay with her. Nanda Kaul was angry and anxious at the prospect of having to care for someone else when all she wanted was to be alone. A little later Ila Das called on the telephone and asked to come visit sometime, which only increased Nanda Kaul’s agitation. Days pass while Nanda Kaul read and revisited tumultuous memories of domestic life before her children were grown and her husband died, until one day Raka arrived in town. Ram Lal was sent to meet her while Nanda Kaul stewed and fretted about how she had forgotten how to care for a child.

Part 2 begins with Raka’s arrival. Nanda Kaul gave her a cold welcome and proceeded to leave her to explore the place on her own. Raka looked around Carignano a bit before climbing a nearby knoll and heading out to explore the hills around the house. They eventually fell into a rhythm where Raka would join Nanda Kaul for tea in the afternoon, but be gone the rest of the day. This was what Nanda Kaul initially wanted, but she began to feel perturbed by the child’s absences, and eventually she began to admire Raka’s natural independence. Meanwhile, Raka had been exploring the region like a wild animal, scrambling up cliffs, hunting snakes, foraging nuts and berries, and stalking around the Pasteur Institute’s waste chutes, which Ram Lal had warned her to stay away from.

Eventually Nanda Kaul began trying harder to talk to Raka, but she always looked like a cornered animal. One afternoon, after tea, Nanda Kaul insisted that they take a walk together to the top of a mountain. Raka reluctantly agreed. It was pleasant until Nanda Kaul suggested that Raka stay permanently and enroll in school in Kasauli, which prompted an abrupt rejection and Raka ran ahead. Nanda Kaul became too tired to make it to the top, so she waited a long time until Raka returned. A few nights later, Raka snuck into the Kasauli Club during a big party. She was shocked by the drunk partiers in costumes and it triggered nightmarish visions. In absolute terror, Raka had a flashback to a memory of her father brutally beating her mother, and she ran to Carignano sobbing. A few days later, Raka, Nanda Kaul, and Ram Lal saw a forest fire.

Sometime later, a letter arrived to inform Nanda Kaul that Tara, Raka’s mother, had suffered a nervous breakdown in Geneva and would not be calling for her. Around this time, Nanda Kaul began creating tall tales about her childhood to impress Raka. Raka continued to withdraw and explore the most ravaged and barren spaces in Kasauli. Nanda Kaul became sullen and pouted about Raka’s indifference.

In Part 3, Ila Das came to visit. Nanda Kaul, Ila Das, and Raka sat together over tea while Ila Das raved and screamed about her and Nanda Kaul’s past. Raka was uncomfortable and out of place. The narrative provides an overview of their relationship and the turns their lives have made. At the end of the afternoon, Ila Das took her leave, and in high spirits decided to walk through the bazaar before heading home. Raka stole a book of matches from Ram Lal and headed out into the hills. Night fell as Ila Das walked home, and she was attacked and murdered by Preet Singh, who was mad at her for trying to dissuade him from marrying off his young daughter. Nanda Kaul received a phone call from the police shortly after asking her to identify the body, and the news shocked her. Nanda Kaul was overcome with despair and the realization that her whole life, everything she told herself about her motivations and her entire constructed sense of self was fabricated as a means to get through life. As this crisis or epiphany took place, Raka tapped at the window saying “Look, Nani, I have set the forest on fire” (145). The novel ends with black smoke enveloping the mountain.