It all starts off with two Delhi schoolboys and brothers, Tushar and Nakul Khurana, who are on an errand run by their parents to pick up a fixed television from one of the vendors in the marketplace. Their friend Mansoor Ahmed decides to tag along. However, an innocent expedition to the market turns into a fatal disaster—the ignition of a bomb in a New Delhi marketplace in the year 1996 claims thirteen townspeople and injuring thirty more, the Khurana boys being two of those thirteen killed. The bomb is one of the many “small bombs” that have gone off in numerous smaller countries throughout the years. The parents of the two boys are completely devastated as any parent would be at the sudden death of their two children. However, Mansoor survives. This takes a huge toll on him physically, as he is injured, as well as mentally, as he has to face the phycological traumas after witnessing and being part of such a horrifying experience.
The story follows Mansoor’s experience as he has a short encounter with an American university. He then decides to go back to Delhi to connect back to his hometown. There he meets and becomes involved with a very alluring, energetic, mysterious girl named Ayub. Ayub has established a name for herself, being a “fearless young activist” who has values and principles that become very appealing and mesmerizing to Mansoor.
The actual bomb itself is set off by a Kashmiri man by the name of Shockie, who set off the bomb to gain independence for his country while risking his life in the process. The story takes the point of view of the people that were injured, the people that lost their family members, and even Shockie himself, who was hurt in the process and is struggling to survive.
