Mother India?is the story of two young people living in contemporary Delhi. Plodding away to make a decent living despite a middling education, Mayank is employed in a right-wing content creator’s dingy basement studio. Nisha, recently moved to the city from her small town in the hills, works as a salesgirl for expensive Japanese chocolate in an upscale mall. When Mayank discovers Nisha beaming off her Instagram like a beacon, he is smitten, and the video clip he devises for his studio ends up having significant consequences for them both. Sparkling and unexpected, Prayaag Akbar’s new novel brilliantly captures what it means to be young and alive in today’s India.