On a train journey home to north India after long months of travel abroad, the playboy Bhushan Singh, son of the Raja of Vijaygarh, is arrested and thrown into jail. Charged with treason, Bhushan finds himself in a filthy prison cell surrounded by elderly trade unionists as innocent of any political crime, and a jittery government sees sedition under every stone.As they wait for the trial that never seems to come, Bhushan takes up the role of Scheherazade, enthralling his cell-mates with stories