LIGHTNING IN A SHOT GLASS By DEEPANJANA PAL

Things are not going well for Mumbai flatmates Meera and Aalo. Forty-year-old journalist Meera is convinced she’s confronting a mid-life crisis, even as she boards a train to Kandivali to hook up with an impossibly young colleague. Twenty-nine-year-old Aalo—professionally and emotionally adrift—ends up sliding into the DMs of a ravishing (and far-away) war photographer, after embarking upon a mission to date anyone who is not right of centre.

Alongside these fledgling infatuations, which seem determined not to remain casual, Meera and Aalo have to navigate the politics at work and manage parents who are as loving as they are xenophobic. If they are able to survive in this labyrinth, it’s because they can lean on a chosen family of fiercely loyal girlfriends, and the city of Mumbai, which brings out selves they didn’t know they possessed.

Original, electrifying and whip-smart, Lightning in a Shot Glass is an ode to romance, a tribute to the magic and mayhem that is Mumbai, and a love letter to all women.

Deepanjana Pal says, ‘Lightning in a Shot Glass is a love letter to working women and being older, if not wiser. It began as something I wrote to distract myself from the awfulness around us, but quickly became less about escapism and more about what makes everything better. Namely, the friendship of women, a city of dreams and a few good men.’

Dharini Bhaskar, Associate Publisher, Literary at HarperCollins India says, ‘It is rare to come across a novel that is, at once, whip-smart and vulnerable, laugh-out-loud funny and introspective, fiercely feminist and (still) willing to flirt with the genre of the rom-com. Deepanjana Pal’s Lightning in a Shot Glass is all of this. Gripping, sparkling and original, it is India’s answer to Bridget Jones’s Diary—and we, at HarperCollins, are so proud to release it.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deepanjana Pal has been a journalist for two decades and a collector of stories for as long as she can remember. She has written three children’s books, one feminist thriller, one biography and too many film reviews to count. She’s a columnist with Hindustan Times, and has previously worked with TimeOut Mumbai, Newslaundry and Film Companion. She runs a books newsletter titled Dear Reader and may be found posting photos of clouds and lightning on Instagram (@dpanjana).

High Voltage Hype for ‘Lightning in a Shot Glass’

‘Absolutely top-tier Indian contemporary fiction. Empathetic, smart, layered, sharp, funny, honest, authentic and complex. Loved it.’—Samit Basu

‘Wickedly funny, wildly unserious about serious things, while simultaneously being whip-smart, Lighting in a Shot Glass is the kind of book you’ll breeze through with a grin on your face.’—Aditi Mittal

‘A vibrant story of friendship and affinity, saturated with the exuberance of Mumbai.’ —Mahesh Rao

‘Lightning in a Shot Glass manages to be witty and breezy while also forcing you to face discomfort. Deepanjana Pal’s lightness of touch makes you feel like you’re sitting with your cleverest friends.’ —Diksha Basu

‘Bombay gets a rom-com it deserves—as irrepressible and heartfelt as itself; a book that allows women to read for pleasure without any guilty-shilty added on.’—Paromita Vohra

Published by HarperCollins

Paperback | Fiction | 360 pp | INR 499

Releasing on 10th November 2025