Keep Off The Grass - Tapa blanda

Not if you are Samrat Ratan, born in the USA to immigrant Indian parents; you quit and enrol in business school in India instead. Samrat's rollercoaster journey begins at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Bangalore, where he spends his time getting high on marijuana while his grades - and self-confidence - plummet. Soon, Samrat's quest for identity turns increasingly bizarre as it takes him places he hadn't planned on visiting - prison, for example - and makes him do things he hadn't banked on doing: 'meditating' stoned with a sexy Danish hippie in the Himalayas, hanging out with a cannibal on the banks of the Ganga, and peddling soap to the formidable Raja Bhaiya in Benares. Does Samrat - Yale valedictorian, investment banker, convict, pothead - survive his fall from grace

Karan Bajaj is the author of Keep Off the Grass, which has been on bestseller lists in India since its release in 2008. The book was a semifinalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Indiaplaza Golden Quill Award, among other honours. Johnny Gone Down is his second novel. Born in 1979 into an Army family, Karan studied in various schools in New Delhi, Shimla, Lucknow, Jabalpur, Assam, Ranchi and Bangalore and regards his interest in backpacking and travel as key writing inspirations. Besides writing, he pursues his Brand Management career with Kraft Foods, New York on the side and was named a 'Top 40 under 40 US Marketer' by Advertising Age in 2007. He can be reached at email@karanbajaj.com