Unknown City

Arindam Chatterjee--whom we first met in Amitabha Bagchi's bestselling novel Above Average--is now a nearly fifty-year-old novelist and professor. He is committed to revisiting the relationships he had in his twenties during his years in America and after graduating from IIT--be it with history student Supriya, who wanted a companion to laugh with, not a partner demanding intellectual gratification; or with the activist Lisa, who sought an anchor, not a man unaware of her struggle with depression; or with the writer Razia, who wished to be desired, not summoned to mend a broken soul. As Arindam looks back, he realizes that the unknown city that's the human heart felt unknowable to him because he was wearing the blinkers of his masculinity. In Above Average, Arindam had said, 'It is a blessing to be understood, and an even greater blessing to be granted understanding.' Has Arindam finally been granted understanding?