Sanjay Bahadur is the director general of Income Tax Investigation for Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, posted in Hyderabad. He has an MA in economics from University of Bombay, an MBA from University of Birmingham, UK, and has completed courses from IIM Bangalore and Syracuse University, USA. Apart from being a prolific writer, he is also an avid cyclist, holds black belt in karate and taekwondo and promotes self-defense for girls and women. His debut novel, The Sound of Water, was longlisted for inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize 2007 and earned international critical acclaim. His second and third novels, Hul: Cry Rebel (2013) and Bite of the Black Dogs (2017) gained critical acclaim and glowing reviews, with the latter optioned for making of a feature film. Inside Burn is his fourth novel.
<p>At an intersection in a city somewhere in northern India, it is an ordinary morning.</p><p>A young boy peddles pirated books; his sister, two infants by her side, offers wilted flowers to unwilling customers; an old ice-cream vendor looks forward to some extra earnings under the hot sun; at a cafe nearby, a bunch of students celebrates a graduation; a group of mechanics prepares for afternoon prayers on the pavement; local shopkeepers play loud bhajans to announce a feast for the needy; a police van idles by the roadside; a young woman in a luxury car grows impatient with her clients and their demands; and traffic that has come to a standstill slowly begins to start up ... Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changes.</p><p>As the street descends into a vortex of vengeance and retribution, the unfolding events make victims and perpetrators, observers and participants, of them all.</p><p>Searing, intense and superbly crafted, Inside Burn explores the anatomy of a spontaneous riot, exposing the absurdity of intolerance and celebrating, in the end, the core of the human spirit.</p><div><br></div>
