Paroma had always known that she would have to submit to her family’s choice of a suitable groom. It really ought not have mattered which brother she eventually ended up marrying. As the replacement groom, the older step - brother Abhinn, was a curst stranger on whom was thrust an onerous duty - the wedding and Paroma, herself. Witnessing his lifestyle first - hand, she found their lives irreconcilable, Mamun, his aunt, was voluble in her utter disaproval of their match. If anything had compelled Paroma’s acceptance of the situation, it was an implicit understanding of her background: of the societal pressures on her parents and the prodding small -mindedness of Manoharpur. Ultimately these considerations defeated her and she returned to her household in Kolkata temporarily, in her quest for an alternative foothold. As her fledging bookstore grew, so did Abhinn’s unmistakable romance with Geetika. These are the facts. And beyond bare facts are the lives touched by the magic of proximities and their infinite contradictions.