ISBN: 9780143414520
Publisher: Penguin Books India (November 2011)

Gurcharan Das wrote three successful plays in his twenties, which are brought together here  for the first time with a new introduction by the author. In it he describes how he learnt to write, why be become a writer, and what makes playwriting more difficult than any other kind of writing.

Larins Sahib is a historical play set in the confused period after the death of Ranjit Singh when the British first arrived in Punjab. This prize-winning play races the development of hubris, which brings about the hero's downfall. Larins Sahib has been performed in major Indian cities and at the Edinburgh Festival.

Mira 'a rite of Krishna for five actor-dancers', premiered at the La Mama Theatre in New York in 1970. It explores the phenomenon of sainthood through the story of Mirabai, the sixteenth century Rajput poetess-saint. The New York Times called it 'remarkable in the way it combined Indian legend with the sophistication of Western total theatre. [it] has something of the quality of a dream ritual.'

9 Jakhoo Hill, the third play in this series, is set in the autumn of 1962 in Shimla. It examines a number of themes, the changing social order with the rise of new middle class, the incestual obsessions of an ageing uncle, the hold of Indian mothers on their sons, and the eventual betrayal of sexual love.

This is a book that both the general reader and the theatre buff will love to read and possess.

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