The real heroes of this novel are the people of Bangladesh. Set against
the grain economic and political situation in Bangladesh in the late
eighties, the novel depicts the struggle of a group of people to create a
new future for their country. Under the guidance of a Bangladeshi
writer who returned home after living abroad for nearly a quarter of a
century, they set up a broad-based movement that draws its support from
the villages. They seek to promote grassroots rural development, brings
hope to poverty stricken farmers and landless laborers. This eventually
produces a new kind of community leaders who seem capable of challenging
the rotting socio-political order in the country and the administration
of President Abul Morshed. The novel makes a case for the kind of
development that can save a country like Bangladesh. Amongst many
example that the author depicts is the case of a small poverty-stricken
village which, for years, has been living below subsistence level turns
to apiculture and discovers a new source of income. At a small town in
southern Bangladesh, two hundred rickshaw-pullers set up their own
co-operative society and eventually own the vehicles which they once
used to hire on daily basis. It describes a development that touches the
lives of teeming millions.