A Coming-of-Age Tale in a Coming-of-Age Nation

On a scorching summer day, many of us instinctively reach for a cold can of Coke. But for those who grew up in another time, the craving may be for something else entirely — like a chilled Campa Cola.

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This humble, homegrown fizzy drink once ruled the shelves, alongside nostalgic names like Kimsi, Swadz or those candy cigarettes we all tried to puff like adults.

That very flavour of nostalgia runs deep through Tempest on River Silent, as author Sandeep Khanna traces five decades of India's evolution — from the post-colonial churn of the 1970s to the country's emergence as a global presence in the 2010s.

Told through the lives of narrator Sandeep Khanna aka Sandy, protagonist Devavratt, and their friends, the novel spans their journey from idealistic schoolboys to restless college students, eventually settling into adulthood as professionals in London.