Delhi, 1997: It is India's fiftieth year of independence, the year of Hindu nationalists and atomic bombs. But twelve-year-old Adi has a bigger problem: his Ma has gone missing - again. Left with an ailing grandmother, a raging father and no answers, he finds an unlikely ally: a talking vulture who reveals itself to be a bureaucrat from the 'Department of Historical Adjustment'.
The Department holds Adi's family files, which will take him on a journey through time and memory, through fifty years of India's history, uncovering the darkest secrets of his Ma's past. But first, he must unlock them by facing his greatest fears.
