Da

A tender, bitter-sweet coming of age for readers of Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi and Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai

This is a story of love between a father and a son.

Inquisitive 13-year-old Ved’s entire universe is his adoptive father, Da. From cooking him the perfect biryani, to helping him navigate his first school dance and his first girlfriend, Da lets Ved be himself.

Fiercely loving and fiercely protective, their relationship harbours a secret that could destroy them both: Da is gay at a time when Section 377, a colonial law, makes homosexuality a crime. Beyond the law, vigilante gangs prowl the shadows, targeting those they deem ‘unnatural’ as Da and Ved’s happy existence grows ever more fragile.

Set in an Indian metropolis in 2013, Da is a tender story of a boy caught between devotion and fear, chronicling the everyday courage it takes to love someone the world refuses to accept.