It was a hot afternoon in the quiet, dusty village of Jilminda, near Sambalpur, in Odisha. Biju, all of nine years old, sat under a tree waiting for his father. He was going with Bapa on a long journey.

A fly buzzed near his ear. The glare of the sun along with the steady clack-clack of the handlooms from the huts nearby made him feel sleepy. He thought he would doze a bit in the company of the brown dog that had come to share the shade with him, but the dog was panting so loudly in the heat that it kept Biju awake.