Santanu was a bright young man in his late twenties, studying in Calcutta’s prestigious Presidency College. His subject was physics, and his professors had espied in him a questing mind combined with an intellectual daring that saw him tread new paths of thought in his chosen field. They foresaw for him high honours and were practically certain that he would get a full scholarship at one of the world’s best known ivy league colleges. Santanu’s elderly parents were very proud of their son. He was their only child, and they had always known that he would make it big in...