In this affectionate and humorous drama, a boy who was entirely raised in the U.S. returns to his Indian birthplace for a year of college. At first he resists the wild, passionate irrationality of the place but gradually learns things about himself, his family, and his birthplace that help him appreciate his experiences there. As he begins to understand more about the dynamics of Indian life, he also learns that his cool and distant-seeming father, now dead, loved him much, much more than he ever suspected. He also learns that it is possible to pray to the deities of the Hindu pantheon in almost any state of mind except indifference. One amusing recurring experience he has is that, as soon as anyone finds out that he grew up in America, they ask him if he has ever met Michael Jackson.