"Gopal Pandey wakes up with a twitch in his left eye and a curse on his tongue, and knows it is a bad day."

The opening words of The Peacock Throne give a hint of the troubles to come, as it starts with the events of the day the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated. The year is 1984 and the country is suddenly thrown into chaos and anarchy.

The book tells the story of Gopal, a near blind and poor tea seller who is caught up in the mayhem and by chance becomes the possessor of a large sum of money and then political power.

The story follows his unlikely journey to power and fortune over 14 years, amid accidents and tragedies in the lives of those around him in the city. Everyone is caught in the web of poverty and desperation - women and young boys caught are forced to sell their bodies for pittance just to survive. In this book, no one is the good guy.

The description is detailed and at times painful. A young boy who has come to Delhi in search of a better life after having lost his parents in the chaos of 1984 ends up being exploited and is forced into prostitution by his helpless circumstances. All this doesn't make easy reading but then this is simply a story about the ordinary folk of India going about their business in the hot and dusty streets of New Delhi.

The title refers to the famous and historical seat of power of the Mogul era. Takhet E Taouse, or the throne of the peacock, was said to be the most jewel encrusted throne, with such value that it could have paid the national debt of the country.

But when the Mughal Empire was defeated the throne was broken up and the jewels were taken to foreign lands. Some precious stones are said to be in England and some in other Eastern countries. The analogy is used to emphasise the seat of political power in India now.

Surjit Saraf was born in India and graduated as an engineer in 1991 from the world famous IIT in Delhi. He subsequently studied at University of California, Berkely, receiving a PhD in 1997. He briefly worked as a research scientist with NASA and then an assistant professor at IIT Delhi.

His first novel, Limbo, was published in 1994 in India but did not make much of an impact. In 1995 he co-founded Natak, a theatre and film company near San Francisco, for which he has written plays and two feature films. He works in Palo Alto, Californiam conducting research on space missions and satellite control.

Saraf joins an increasing number of Indian authors who want to give the reader a taste of this vast country, now approaching its 60th independence anniversary, by using more authentic local dialects and customs. For example he he continually uses the literal translation of 'whore' as randi, even though the correct English term would be 'sex worker' now.

The Peacock Throne goes into great depth about the Indian way of life. Detailed descriptions of various acts of worship, festivals and internal politics set its very colourful scenes. There is a lot to take in and each chapter is filled with information about cultural, human and historical facts that it can sometimes get overwhelming.

And at a whopping 750 pages there is a lot to absorb. I for one could not take it all in. But I do admire the author for writing such an entertaining book.

The Peacock Throne is now published in Britain by Sceptre. Buy the book from Amazon.co.uk.

www.sujitsaraf.com