For most people, the impending end of the world would cause a state of panic, helplessness, chaos. Their whole lives would flash before their eyes, as city governments and national institutions tried—in vain—to control the situation, perhaps even minimise people’s legitimate fears. In Varun Grover’s story Karejwa, set in a doomsday scenario with exactly 30 minutes left on the clock, the young protagonist Pintoo dreams of only one thing: the titular sweet, more tender than a gulab jamun.

Karejwa has travelled a long road since it was first published in Chakmak, a children’s monthly, in 2015. Five years later, Grover joined hands with Bakarmax, a comics and animation studio, to turn it into a web comic, edited by Sumit Kumar and illustrated by Ankit Kapoor. Last week, the studio and lyricist launched it as a graphic novel.