No Man's Land

1998. The year when Gurgaon rose and since then it has not stopped rising. Land is of prime importance and sometimes the only thing which matters. There are of course land overlords and they rule the roost when it comes to land and properties that they own. Nilesh Shrivastava’s book, “No Man’s Land” (a very ironic title) is about this situation. It is about the present and how the root cause of everything that takes place in the book is land and the pull towards it.

The story is of Agastya – one of the land overlords and how he is heading for retirement and wants to hand over the alleged business to his sons, Pranav and Karan. From thereon, starts the intrigue and greed factor of the plot. There is blood, mayhem and chaos, which to a very large extent keep the book going. The undertones and the overtones of the book are in equal measure. Shrivastava’s writing is breezy and yet impactful. A different kind of read for sure.

No Man’s Land is a story about the insatiable lust for land and property, the power struggle, and the dirty games associated with inheriting property.

Summary

Gurgoan, a farmer’s town, was born in the year 1998 and has not stopped growing since then. It is a classical example of a big city encroaching into its nearby small towns, which resulted in a new city being born. Petty farms transformed into virtual gold mines. The protagonist, Agatsya, who was on his death bed lords over one such estate. He decides to pass on his legacy to his estranged sons, Pranay and Karan, who come from Delhi with tainted pasts and base aspirations and how a woman divides them. Like the Mahabharata, the land becomes the stage where their fears, affections, and greed struggle and eventually get smothered.