The Stranger in My Home

Book excerpt: Rare must be the person who knows all about himself. In The Stranger in My Home, former US diplomat Manish Nandy offers a collection of personal stories through an extraordinary travelogue. He looks back at the unusual people he has met over the decades and explores how they have shaped him. The mother he took care of in her old age; the couple he helped adopt a girl in a foreign land by challenging the norms; the women he loved but could not be with; the man who befriended him only to shatter his illusions; the Arab whose integrity was unparalleled; a young Rajiv Gandhi who did not want to join politics; a war veteran whose love story deeply touched him - all of them appear in the book and leave their mark.