Literary narrative showcasing the hardships faced by a boy growing up in the hinterlands. This Sahitya Akademi-winning piece of literature manages to mirror the terrible adversities faced by young boys and girls belonging from poor, rural households who not only have to battle poverty and hunger, but also a lot of social discrimination, casteism, and ridicule.
Growing up in the clutches of abject poverty witnessing horrific domestic abuse and callous treatment of young children, along with blatant disregard from teachers at school and open discrimination from the society at large, every day till Anand realises his dream of completing his Matriculation is a ‘Zombi’ (rural Marathi word for wrestle / struggle) with life.