May you be the mother of a hundred sons [antikvár]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE COUNTLESS people who helped me, encouraged me, taught me about India and invited me into their lives. A few deserve a special mention here. In New Delhi, the wonderful, chaotic, loving Bissells and memben of their extended family—Bim, John, William, Monsoon, Mrs. Nanda, Padma and Nisha—made India the extraordinary place it was for me; they will remain lifelong friends. Renuka Singh, my soulmate and collaborator in the search for Surinder Kaur, devoted weeks to that project and others, and gave me valuable suggestions after reading my manuscript. She, too, will remain a friend for life. The phenomenal P. J. Anthony of The New York Times New Delhi bureau selflessly helped me when he could have been doing something else. To me, he seemed like a gift dropped from heaven. Mani Mann provided much laughter, good friendship and a beautiful sari, and Ritu Menon lent invaluable insight and advice. In New Delhi, I would also like to thank Mani Shankar and Suneet Aiyar, Suman and Manju Dubey, G. Parthasaraty, Rama Mohan Rao, Richard Weintraub, Nilova Roy, C. P. Sujaya, Ella Datta, R. L. Vernia, Sanjoy Hazarika and all of the fme people at 35 A/i Prithvi Raj Road, particularly Abdul Toheed, Chunni Lai and the late Mohinder Singh. I also owe a special debt of gratitude to yet another member of the extended Bissell family, Mal-Uka Singh. In Calcutta, I am extremely grateful to M. J. and Mallika Akbar, Shekhar and Pakhi Bhatia, Rajbir and Meena Singh, and Shanti Bhat-tacharya, who fed me, entertained me and most of all guided me