Preparations for King George the Third's fiftieth birthday gala are in full swing in Lucknow. As poets and performers vie to be part of the show Chapla Bai a dazzling courtesan from Kashi briefly enters this competitive world and sweeps the poet Nafis Bai off her feet. An irresistible passion takes root expanding and contracting like a wave of light. Over two summers aided by Nafis's friends the poets Insha and Rangin and Sharad himself in love with a man they exchange letters and verses feeding