In 1950s Trinidad, a frustrated writer supports himself as a masseur--and soon becomes a revered mystic and politico.

Circa 1940 in Trinidad, which is still a British Colony, lives Ganesh Ramseyor, of East Indian origin, with his wife Leela. He longs to reach out to people, especially to Hindus, to promote the Hindu Faith, and be known as a writer. He finds considerable success, so much so that he becomes famous as a miracle worker, having cured a man of sharing intimacy with his bicycle; prevented a man from believing that he can fly; and convincing a young woman to end her fast. His fame spreads all over the island and thousands throng to seek his blessings, which he doles out quite benevolently, without charging any fees from the poor and the needy. He then decides to spread his wings by challenging local politician Pandit Narayan Chandrashekhar alias Cyrus T., and takes over The Hindu Organization, thence opening his way to a seat in the prestigious Member of the Legislative Assembly. Now literally the sky is the limit for Ganesh, and he knows that he can achieve any position--and it is then that he realizes that he cannot attain anything much without the support of the grassroots people--the very ordinary folks who had supported him. The question remains with his high position, will his contact with his people be limited, or will he forsake all power and ceremonial positions to be near his devotees?—rAjOo ([email protected])

An enthusiastic young man in 1940s Trinidad rises to local fame after leaving a teaching post in the capital to live in his father's village where he writes books and takes up his father's trade as a masseur. Showmanship informs his innocent exuberance to make him a "mystic." He's Ganesh, a Trinidadian of Indian descent, called The Pundit by his followers, who with Leela, his childless wife, ascends to success in a flashback that begins in Oxford in 1954 when a student volunteers to give a day's guided tour to a visiting West Indian. The visitor is Ganesh, whom the student recognizes from childhood: the memory, as well as the student's rite of passage, begins.—<[email protected]>