Puja Changoiwala
Journalist & Author
New Release
Homebound
A Family. A Lockdown. A Journey.
For young Meher, living in Dharavi meant a life full of possibilities. Things were going well until the Indian government announced the world's largest coronavirus lockdown. Soon, her parents are left jobless and stand to lose all - their homes and their lives.
As Covid-19 cases in their Mumbai slum soar, Meher and her family realize that they have no choice but to leave for their village in Rajasthan. With the ban on public movement, it becomes clear that they would have to walk the 900 kms, facing barbaric police officers, searing heat, wild beasts and indifferent deities.
A deeply moving story about family, survival and relentless hope, Homebound brings to the page the stark realities of those who have remained too long without a voice.
Homebound will sear your conscience. Puja Changoiwala's fiction has the steel ring of truth-telling. A powerful, accessible, heartwrenching novel by one of India's most dedicated journalists.
Nilanjana Roy
journalist, author, literary critic
Praise & Reviews
A poignant letter to our dystopian present. An elegy for the faceless and the nameless. [Homebound] is a striking document of our times, a tour de force.
Hansal Mehta,
filmmaker
[Homebound is] a story of courage and grit, told with amazing simplicity and power. A compelling reminder of what millions went through during those desperate months, when we were all being tested by fate.
Pritish Nandy,
poet, journalist,
former Parliamentarian
