A Search Called Home

In his debut novel Our Friends in Good Houses, journalist Rahul Pandita unveils a stark portrayal of a man’s search for home.

- By BILAL GANI

Neel, a wartime reporter, carries an unrelenting longing for belonging despite never having a permanent place to call his own. For him, home is both a place and a metaphor associated with everything human—belonging, identity, even existence.The narrative captures the universality of longing and the fragility that accompanies it. Pandita, through Neel’s story of losses, demonstrates how fiction can be a powerful medium for conveying pain and agony that almost feel personal.