In the year 1952, Kalu escaped Banjhan Kalan in Punjab's Hoshiarpur for Bedford in the British Midlands, hoping to find a life of dignity that he had been denied because of his caste. He was in his late teens and had grown up believing in Sikhism's tenet of equality preached by Guru Nanak and Ravidas, a principle the villagers never sincerely practiced. They had maimed his father, accusing him of stealing a zamindar's ox; they had thrown father and son out of a "Quit India" rally; they had mercilessly thrashed young Kalu himself for daring to enter a temple. He had never been allowed to forget - even by his schoolmaster - that he was a Chamar, destined to skin dead cattle like his ancestors. England promised a new life of respect and opportunity. But Kalu's fellow expatriates had brought caste along when they came to that country, and he would be forced to adhere to its degrading rules. But Kalu is determined not to bend... This is not only the story of a rural Punjabi family's search for a better life, it is also a powerful depiction of the stranglehold of caste over Sikh immigrants in Britain. Even as it exposes the horror and obstinacy of caste, the novel pays tribute to the courage and tenacity of the human spirit and its capacity for hope.