An aspiring writer grappling with loneliness, love, and the financial instability of a freelance career.

The novella captures the transition from adolescence to adulthood, highlighting the "uneasy reconciliation of dreams and destiny".

A former Doon School student and aspiring artist/poet who frequently asks the narrator for treats of jalebis despite having no money.

The royal family members who provide a romantic but unattainable focus for the narrator's affections. Major Themes

A perpetually broke journalist from Switzerland who often borrows small sums of money that he never returns.