Third Best

You would think that life for Nirvan Shrivastav and his chums, Adi and Faraz, within the precincts of the prestigious co-ed Shore Mount boarding school - where the rich and connected from all over India and outside send their progeny to study and learn - would be a happy and benign one, isolated from the evils of everyday existence. But the pressure of competing with older brothers and uncles whose names adorn the honour rolls, or on the playing fields, or for the romantic attentions of a classmate, or in class, can become an ugly and violent affair; and not tattling on your classmates - no matter what they might have done - is the one inviolable code of honour. So when Nirvan is called upon to denounce the particularly nasty doings of his classmate, he is naturally uncertain of what to do. A coming-of-age novel with an amazing ability to capture the tone and nuances of its young protagonist's speech, THIRD BEST is a fascinating portrayal of life in an Indian boarding school - minus the sugar-coating.

Arjun Rao grew up at The Lawrence School, Lovedale, and grows old at The Doon School in Dehradun, where he lives with his golden retriever, Zedd. This is his first novel.