Police sub-inspector Swami has lost his job after suffering a stroke while beating up a very guilty suspect. He can no longer talk properly, command the respect of his community, or give his six daughters the bankrupting dowries they deserve - and his wife is obsessed with securing the most expensive husbands in India. No wonder Swami has lost his pride and wants to kill himself using only a puncture repair kit. Surely a man in these circumstances has good reason to feel cursed when a white man falls out of the sky and lands on him in a busy street, dying in front of his eyes and making him a laughing stock. But as further strange incidents occur, Swami's hometown starts to believe he is walking with God, and life becomes easier...Mike Stocks' comic tour de force brilliantly exemplifies how sometimes in life meaningless events can produce meaningful effects.

Author Biography

Mike Stocks is the founder and editor of Anon, the anonymous submissions poetry magazine. His debut literary novel, White Man Falling, won the Goss first Novel Award in 2006. His translations of Roman poet Belli will be published by Oneworld Classics in Spring 2007.