Meghna Pant’s new book The Man Who Lost India attempts to explore what it would be like if India and China were at war in the near future. Seth, the richest man in what remains of India, lives with his family in the small town of Lalbag, safe under the shelter of Mount Akaho and saved by a ‘religious miracle’. He wants to marry his daughter off to Harsh Shah, who owns a National Identification Card, which is transferable to the spouse, and, therefore, could save her life. But she is in love with their domestic help, Manu. With this story emerging as central to the novel, one also slowly sees signs of the troops entering Seth’s town.

The novel, unfortunately, falls short on several accounts. Firstly, it claims that “India is being forgotten,” as deaths continue to take place with  the Chinese occupying India. The novel notes how cultural markers like language, salutations, children in the family, religious inclinations, etc., are being erased by the Chinese government. Considering that all this is supposed to have happened by 2032, this is hard to believe. It certainly doesn’t help the novel’s guise of showing its readers a glimpse into a dystopian society.