Reading Raghu Srinivasan’s Manohar Kahani makes one revisit a time when chaos seemed enjoyable. The Hindi title simply translates to a fascinating story, and it indeed is.

Our host, a long-time member of our book club, is also Manohar Malgonkar’s niece; this is her family home. “Tell us your family story, all the details”, we entreat.

Novelist Manohar Malgonkar passed away in Jagalbet, Karnataka, on Monday. ... At 47, he wrote his first book Distant Drum, where he narrated the spirit of the Indian soldier.

If it were a book, it would be thick, dense, informative, wonderfully engaging, but wrapped in unattractive grey paper. Manohar book store in central Delhi is that sort of hidden gem. “It has ...