'I have been bunking off school to go to the movies. I have stolen money, I have sold things, I have double-crossed my friends and - I cannot bear to think of the thought - have been into the bathroom with my brother's friend, Darab.'
Eight-year old Cyrus Readmoney, son of wealthy parents, voluntarily lives like a vagabond, roaming the streets of Bombay and inviting himself into the homes and lives of the neighbours. Obsessed with the sensual delights of food, colourful Hindi films and his growing sexual awareness, precocious Cyrus lives day to day on the margins of the adult world - treating it as a playground for his boyish exuberance.