Moth Smoke [Paperback]

The year is 1998. The Pakistan government conducts the first series of nuclear tests to match the ones by India, thereby declaring the nationae’s eminence as a part of the elite nuclear club. There is a mood of immense national pride among the populace.

However, beneath the veneer of the celebratory countenance, lie a crumbling economy, incessant corruption, social injustice, and moral deterioration. Amidst these circumstances, Darashikoh Daruae Shezad manages to lose his cushy job as a banker in Lahore.

Born into a not so endowed family, he was always on the fringes of Lahoreae’s high society owing to his circle of friends, especially Aurangzeb “Ozi” Shah, his childhood buddy.

However, after the loss of income, the obvious class difference becomes more prominent, and Daru gets alienated from the circle.