A finely observed comedy of manners, this novel presents an imaginative and poetic play on the symbols of Hinduism in a secular and cosmopolitan society. Devan, a teacher of Hinduism to rural Indians, finds his life turned upside down when he leaves his village and family and heads to the urban, cosmopolitan capital of Georgetown, Guyana. In a city that is ethnically diverse, he meets members of the wealthy and politically cynical Indian elite--an experience at odds with the ardent simplicities of his teaching--Devan is exposed to the dangers of religion when it is made to serve the needs of ethnic assertion. With a blend of humor and sobering insight, this novel explores the friction between religious fundamentalism and cosmopolitanism.