The Parcel by Anosh Irani. Published in 2016 by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers India Limited, A-75, Sector 57, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301. Pp: 264. Price: Rs 399.
Anosh Irani (pictured) starts his novel, The Parcel, with a scene which is familiar to most Bombayites. At a crossing at Bombay Central, a transgender, Madhu, is positioned outside the window of a taxi begging for money. She is, like most members of her tribe, very persistent and with the connivance of a shrewd taxi driver, the passenger finally gives her Rs 10 just before the traffic lights change.
The protagonist, Madhu,......