The Reengineers

Book excerpt: Chinmay Narayan is plotting to kill himself. He is a misfit at school, his parents are about to divorce and the love of his life doesn't know he exists. But before he can get anywhere with the suicide plan, Chinmay and his friends, Anu and Sabi, stumble into the eerie world of Conchpore through a portal in Uncle RK's library. They find themselves in the Seeker's School, where you can buy spiritual courses to bring you enlightenment. While the seekers seem unaware that there is something amiss, Chinmay and his friends chance upon a strange and sinister plot involving some teachers and administrators. The charismatic Siddharth, a visiting former student of the school, seems like their one big hope. Then Chinmay discovers that Siddharth is seeking catharsis from his dark past by writing a book - a book with Chinmay as the protagonist. Is Siddharth part of the evil caucus? Will the three youngsters find their way back to the world they left behind? Can Chinmay become the author of his own life? Set in Madras in the early 1990s, The Reengineers dispels the boundaries between fiction and reality to tell a tale that is as much a coming-of-age story as it is an inspiring narrative about self-empowerment and spiritual growth.