Dombivli in the Novel
Dombivli is a real city in the Thane district of Maharashtra, India, and the novel uses it as its setting. Everything the book stages there is invented: the buildings, the societies, the firms and the people. The city matters to the story as a place mid-transformation — growing faster than its infrastructure, rebuilding itself on top of itself — which is the pressure the novel puts its protagonist under. This page covers how the setting is used, which features of the real city the book draws on, and where the fictional geography departs from the real one.
The real city
A dense, fast-growing city in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, north-east of Mumbai in Thane district. The novel draws on the real Dombivli for one quality above all: it is a place rebuilding itself on top of itself, faster than its infrastructure can follow.
The fictional geography
Streets, societies and landmarks specific to the novel are invented. Shivaji Chowk and the plot the book calls Site 14 do not exist. The Kopar side, where Jagdish Wagh grows up, is a fictional treatment of an older low-rise quarter.
Why the setting matters
The city is the antagonist and the client at once. Every redevelopment in the novel is a negotiation with a place that has already decided to change.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dombivli a real place?
Yes. Dombivli is a real city in Maharashtra. The events, buildings and organizations the novel places there are fictional.