Chapter One, “Dacoity”, begins in the summer of 1947, a dry, hot summer when monsoon season is much later than usual. Many people begin to speculate that the lack of rain is God’s punishment for their sins. India has recently been rocked by riots due to the proposed partition of the country into a Muslim Pakistan and a Hindu India. The death toll is in the thousands, and both sides blame the other. In reality, both sides are responsible for the massacres perpetrated across nation. This has caused a huge migration of citizens, as people flee to areas deemed safe for their religion. As Hindus and Sikhs fled in one direction and Muslims in the other, there were often violent confrontations between the groups of pilgrims. By 1947, when partition was formally announced, almost ten million people had fled their homes. By the time the monsoon season began, the death toll reached almost one million. All of India was in chaos, and the few remaining areas of peace were small villages in the far reaches of the countryside. One of those villages was Mano Majra. 

Mano Majra was a tiny place, with only a few  brick buildings, including a Sikh Temple, a Mosque, and the home of the town’s moneylender Lala Ram Lal.