In this, his second novel, David Davidar sets out to untangle the complications of religious strife. While the book’s plea for tolerance is moving, the novel as a whole relies too much on argument and too little on storytelling to convey its message, thus falling short of its ambitions.

The main character, Vijay, begins the novel full of youthful naïveté, arriving in vibrant Bombay as an aspiring journalist for a fringe publication, The Indian Secularist. Vijay has grand plans to throw himself into the chaos of the city and experience real news firsthand. However, when he witnesses the brute force of fundamentalist hordes during a street riot, he must suddenly confront the realities of India’s religious and political turmoil. Disillusioned, Vijay flees Bombay on the pretence of an assignment in a town called Meham, in the Nilgiri mountains.

It is in Meham that the novel demonstrates both its greatest strength and its greatest failing. As Vijay finds himself embroiled in conflict over a local shrine, the message is clear: India needs leadership, free of blind ambition, that will bring unity to its discordant voices. Local residents demonstrate the dangers of ignoring this message as they manipulate religion to their advantage. Meanwhile, Vijay’s transformation from innocent bystander to informed crusader strikes an impassioned chord for all those Indians too indifferent to resist intolerance.

The novel breathes sincerity as it makes its appeal for change. Unfortunately, pedantic interludes read more like an extended lecture than a provocative exploration of religious hypocrisy. The narrative especially slows down when it includes excerpts from “The Solitude of Emperors,” an educational tract written by Vijay’s editor.

The result is a lack of storytelling force. The issues at stake are certainly pressing, but their urgency needs a more subtle articulation. Location shifts are often awkward, and Rajan, the Bombayite seeking to claim the shrine as a Hindu site, serves more as a symbolic caricature than a convincing representation of power-mongering. Davidar needs to trust that his message can be communicated solely through the intricacies of plot and character. After all, as Vijay discovers, the problems that his country faces are far too complex for a single book or a single individual to resolve.