Chapter 2 Summary

It is twenty years later and there is another heat wave. In the very same house where he was born, Sampath is miserable. It is night and he cannot sleep. It is so uncomfortably hot and his father, grandmother and little sister, Pinky, are all fast asleep, snoring and wheezing and keeping him awake. Even his mother, whom he loves the most, is sound asleep and making disturbing noises. He goes on the roof for relief, but he cannot escape the heat and is unable to fall asleep there. His only salvation is the joy he feels when he sings about meeting the princess from the kingdom of Cooch Behar.

He stays awake all night and watches the sun rise on Shahkot. The sunlight reveals the ugly parts of his neighborhood, illuminating the trash bins, TV aerials, washing line and other clutter of...