Twelve stories that provide startling glimpses of contemporary life in Bombay, and elsewhere. A wealthy business woman compelled by the desire to hurt her best friend; an old woman in a Tokyo apartment seeking the touch of a baby's hand; a woman reflecting on violence as a riot rages outside her home. Tales about friendship and repulsion, family ties and freedom; violence, public and private; ambition and uncertainty, alienation and acceptance, growing up and growing old.