When Jill, a young Princeton graduate student, comes to India to research the Narikuravar people, known locally as "Gypsies," she reunites with her honorary uncle, Venkie, a mild-mannered professor. Little does she know of Venkie's secret life as a crisis negotiator for India's National Defense Intelligence Agency (NDIA). When Venkie's old nemesis, the terrorist Kebab Jambo, threatens to unleash a terrible weapon, Venkie must travel across India to meet him face-to-face and try to negotiate a peaceful resolution before the NDIA eliminates the threat violently.
Jill, Venkie, and their new Gypsy friends Sing and Kinnie, set out on an epic journey to avert disaster. Never knowing what's around the next bend and confined to traveling by bus, train, car, and horseback, the four companions wind through colorful, unfamiliar landscapes encountering a whole spectrum of joys and dilemmas. But Kebab's cohorts are hot on their heels, trying to stop the group from reaching the fanatic. Can this handful of friends from wildly divergent backgrounds make it all the way before time runs out? And can Venkie use Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence to convince Kebab to end his vendetta?