The Room Above the Gutter

Eighteen-year-old Ravi arrives in Delhi from Bhagalpur, with nothing but a dream. Khajoori Khas, the Yamuna Paar locality, becomes home away from home. A neighbourhood buzzing with migrants, their constant battle for survival, and a foul-smelling room above the gutter mirror his own uncertain future. His only anchor, his maasi, Lucky Mishra, is herself putting up a relentless fight to hold together a family and a fragile dream of belonging in the city. As Ravi navigates college life, odd jobs and his fractured sense of self, he is pulled into the orbits of three women. Alka, the embodiment of everything he yearns for; Priya, the impish girl who loves him unconditionally; and Kasturi, the mysterious woman across the street whose silences hide unsettling truths. When Kasturi is found dead, a disillusioned and dazed Ravi knows nothing better than to leave the lane. What follows is a journey through evolving identities, trapped in moral dilemmas, trying to bring justice to the ones who can no longer fight for themselves. Set in a restless, unforgiving Dilli that feeds on dreams even as it creates them, The Room Above the Gutter is a poignant coming-of-age novel about migrants, love and the long road to self-acceptance, where destiny is not escaped, but rewritten.