The Secret City

Rupert-Yuvraj Rupinder Singh-is heir to the throne of the princely stateof Mubarakpur in Punjab. Except that there is no throne to inherit, nowthat India is free and a democracy. So he moves to the palatial MubarakpurHouse in the heart of New Delhi, where he throws lavish parties to ward offloneliness and boredom. The parties sparkle with alcohol, gossip and music-with stars like the great Begum Akhtar making them magical. The parties drawDelhi's rich and powerful-politicians, judges and senior bureaucrats-andidle royalty, many of them gay men forced to hide their sexual identity forfear of persecution and ridicule, and because homosexuality is a crime inthe Indian republic. There are also a variety of young men who come to theparties-handsome, adventurous men whom Prince Rupert first picked up inthe famous cruising spot, Central Park, Connaught Circus, or in the streets ofCentral Delhi past midnight.The narrator, a near invalid whom no one desires, and who is happy to be avoyeur, watches the people who come and go in this secret world. And hewatches Prince Rupert love, lust and self destruct. Some four decades later,he tells the story of the Prince and the secret world of others like him-somehappy men, some sad; some good people and some villains and chancers-inthis tragi-comic novel full of scandal, pathos, tenderness and black humour.