In chronological order

Page

Winnings

Title of chapter

Summary

Chrono-logical order

48

2,000

The burden of a priest

Ram was born in Delhi and was left outside a church. He was raised by a Catholic priest who taught him to read and write. When Ram was eight, the priest was murdered and Ram was placed in a juvenile home in Delhi.

1

90

10,000

A thought for the crippled

In the juvenile home Ram, who was now ten became friends with Salim, a Muslim boy of eight. Salim’s family had been killed in a Hindu attack. The boys didn’t learn anything at the school. Ram looked after Salim and saved him from sexual abuse.

One day Sethji (Maman) visited the home to select a boy and ended up agreeing to take both boys. The boys travelled to Mumbai where they were told they would be staying at a school for disabled children. They would be “taught useful skills and groomed for success”. Salim was taught to sing all the songs by a blind poet and Ram slowly discovered that Salim was going to be blinded like the poet in order to sing for money in the street. The boys managed to escape and found another place to live in Mumbai.

2

244

10,000,000

Tragedy queen

After having escaped from Maman’s men, the boys went to Neelima Kumari’s flat and Ram secured a job as a servant with her. She paid his rent in a local chawl and that allowed the boys to live together. Neelima Kumari met a man who treated her violently. She ended up committing suicide; Ram left Neelima’s flat without informing the police of her death and got a job in a foundry.

3

194

500,000

A soldier’s tale

During this period, Ram was 12 years old and living in Mumbai with Salim. He was working for Neelima Kumari, a famous actress.

4

31

1,000

The death of a hero

Ram lived together with Salim in a chawl in Mumbai. Ram worked in a foundry and looked after Salim. They went to the cinema to watch a film featuring Salim’s favourite actor Armaan Ali. During the film Salim was accosted by a man, who turned out to be Armaan Ali in disguise.

5

68

5,000

A brother’s promise

The boys got new neighbours in the chawl in Mumbai, a failed scientist Mr Shantaram with his wife and daughter Gudiya. The scientist regularly abused Gudiya and in the end Ram pushed him through the railings. Ram believed that he had committed murder and fled to Delhi.

6

123

50,000

How to speak Australian

At 14, Ram worked as a waiter for an Australian Defence Attaché, Colonel Taylor, who was stationed in Delhi with his family. Ram found out that Taylor was a spy and informed the police. Taylor was arrested; Ram obtained his wages and travelled to Mumbai to see Salim.

7

173

200,000

Murder on the Western Express

Ram was travelling on the train to Mumbai to see Salim for the first time in five years. He had brought along all his money. On the train, he was robbed at gunpoint. He wrestled the gun from the robber and ended up killing the robber. He fled from the train and kept on changing trains until he finally got off in Agra.

8

273

100,000,000

X Gkrz Opknu or A love story

In Agra, Ram scavenged for food before becoming a self-taught tourist guide. He met Shankar, a boy who had lost the ability to speak. Ram ended up staying with Shankar for a week, before moving into his own room at the back of a palace owned by a woman, Swapna Devi. He stayed in Agra for almost two years and at the age of 17, he met Nita, a prostitute whom he fell in love with. He met Nita’s pimp Shyam, who was also her brother. Shyam demanded 400.000 Rupees to let Ram marry Nita.

In the chawl, Shankar contracted rabies and died. Ram had realised that Swapna Devi was Shankar’s mother and he decided to deliver Shankar’s body to Swapna Devi and ask her to pay for the funeral.

Ram shut himself away to grieve over Shankar and only emerged from his grief when he learnt that Nita had been badly beaten by a customer from Mumbai. Ram realised that this was the same man who had mistreated Neelima Kumari. Shyam blamed Ram for Nita’s condition and told him to stay away unless he could pay 400,000 Rupees for Nita.

Ram broke into the palace and stole 400,000 Rupees, but when he returned to the hospital he met a man who asked him to pay for his son’s treatment for rabies.

Shyam demanded an additional 200,000 Rupees to pay for Nita’s plastic surgery and Ram therefore gave the money to the man he had met in the hospital.

In the hospital Ram also saw an advert for W3B; he recognised Prem Kumar and decided immediately to go to Mumbai.

Leaving the hospital Ram was arrested by the police, but they released him again because they did not find any money on him. Ram went to Mumbai.

9

153

100,000

Hold on to your buttons

Ram was working in a bar in Mumbai where he encountered a guest who told him the story of his life. The man fell to the floor dead and Ram took the gun the man had shown him.

10

223

1,000,000

Licence to kill

Ram had been back in Mumbai for three months when he ran into Salim, who was training to become an actor. Salim told him how he had averted a plot to kill a famous film producer and how at the same time he had managed to get Maman killed.

11

343

1,000,000,000

The thirteenth question

At the studio, Ram gave correct answers to all the questions. During the quiz he threatened Prem Kumar with the gun he had taken from the guest in the bar. Ram blamed Prem Kumar for what he had done to Neelima Kumari and Nita, but he did not shoot him. Prem Kumar gave him the answer to the last question and Ram ended up winning just under a billion Rupees.

After Ram had told Smita about the final question she told him that she was really Gudiya, the daughter of Ram’s previous neighbour and that her father had not died from falling though the railings.

12

11

Prologue

Ram had been arrested after having won the quiz. He was tortured by the police who thought that he had been cheating. Smita rescued him and he decided to tell her how he had managed to answer all the questions correctly.

13

358

Epilogue

Gudiya fought for Ram against the police and the quiz company. After four months he received his winnings. At the same time Prem Kumar died in mysterious circumstances.

Ram freed the crippled children in Maman’s former school. Salim landed a leading role in a film, secretly sponsored by Ram.

Ram married Nita.

14