Anupama Ramaswamy for another round of kick-ass covers to choose from. Sudip Bhattacharya for the photography and my gorgeous cover boy for being gorgeous.
To Choku, Nika, Tara and Daivik who put up with me on a daily basis as I slob about the house in my pyjamas, cranky and scummy eyed, grumbling that the piano’s too loud, the dogs are barking too much and that the pressure cooker seeti is driving me crazy…
Thank you for patiently reading, feed-backing and keeping track of all the various drafts of the book (‘Who is Raka now, I thought his name was Racy?’ ‘Huh, when did you move to Kalaikunda, this book was set in Pathankot!’ ‘Mamma, man, please don’t write randi randi randi, what will my school friends say?’)
And again to Choku, very especially, for magically resurrecting my MacBook after it got drenched in a freak accident, with the only file of Baaz lodged inside its sopping innards. Thank you, baby.
To you, dear reader, please do keep buying and reading, you keep me going.
And finally to the Holy Spirit. And Jesus Christ. And to God the Father Almighty, the creator of Heaven and Earth, the finest creative director of all – love and praise and gratitude.
About the Book
‘Why do they call you Baaz?’
‘It means falcon,’ he replies solemnly. ‘Or bird of prey.
Because I swoop down on the enemy planes just like a Baaz would.’
Then he grins. The grey eyes sparkle.
‘It’s also short for bastard.’
1971. The USSR-backed India–Mukti Bahini alliance is on the brink of war against the America-aided Pakistani forces. As the Cold War threatens to turn red hot, handsome, laughing Ishaan Faujdaar, a farm boy from Chakkahera, Haryana, is elated to be in the IAF, flying the Gnat, a tiny fighter plane nicknamed ‘Sabre Slayer’ for the devastation it has wreaked in the ranks of Pakistan’s F-86 Sabre Squadrons.
Flanked by his buddies Raks, a MiG-21 Fighter; Maddy, a transport pilot who flies a Caribou; and fellow Gnatties Jana, Gana and Mana, Shaanu has nothing on his mind but glory and adventure – until he encounters Tehmina Dadyseth, famed bathing beauty and sister of a dead fauji, who makes him question the very concept of nationalism and whose eyes fill with disillusioned scorn whenever people wax eloquent about patriotism and war…
About the Author
Anuja Chauhan was an army brat, born in Meerut Cantonment and educated in Meerut, Delhi and Melbourne. She has worked in advertising for over seventeen years and is credited with many popular campaigns including PepsiCo’s Yeh Dil Maange More, Mera Number Kab Aayega, Oye Bubbly and Darr ke Aage Jeet Hai. She is the author of four bestselling novels (The Zoya Factor, Battle for Bittora, Those Pricey Thakur Girls, The House That BJ Built), two of which have been optioned by major Bollywood studios and one of which has been made into a prime-time daily Hindi serial on &TV. She lives outside Bangalore with her husband, television producer Niret Alva, their three children and a varying number of dogs and cats.
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First published in India in 2017 by
HarperCollins Publishers India
Copyright © Anuja Chauhan 2017
P-ISBN: 9789352644124
Epub Edition © April 2017 9789352644131
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Anuja Chauhan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The map on page (ii) is neither accurate nor drawn to scale and the international boundaries as shown neither purport to be correct nor authentic as per the directives of the Survey of India. The map is for representational purposes only.
All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers India.
Cover design: Anupama Ramaswamy
Cover image: Sudip Bhattacharya
Gnat image: www.bharat-rakshak.com
Background image: Getty Images
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Baaz Page 38