Mitro’s mystique is well summed up by her mother-in-law Dhanvanti: “No one can fathom this girl. When she’s good, she’s better than the best. When she’s bad, she’s worse than the worst.”

The vampish bahus of soap operas are nothing but inferior versions of this hell-raiser, who is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating characters in Indian literature. Its an unapologetic portrayal of a married woman who brooks no limits to her sexuality is as compelling, pertinent provocative today as when it shook the Hindi literary world in 1966.

While translations into English are bound to lose some of the power of the original, this translation retains an intensely visual charm for which Gita Rajan and Raji Narasimhan should be thanked. Mitro and her fellow characters dance before our eyes with vivacity and warmth.