The Song of Kahunsha is a novel by the Indian-Canadian novelist and playwright Anosh Irani,[1] published in 2006 by Doubleday Canada[2] and in 2007 in the US by Milkweed Editions.
Set against the backdrop of the racial violence that engulfed the Indian city of Bombay[1] in 1992 and 1993, the novel depicts the life of Chamdi, a ten-year-old orphan forced to survive on the streets after running away from his orphanage in a quest to find his father.
There he has learned to find solace in his everyday surroundings: the smell of the first rains, the vibrant pinks and reds of the bougainvilleas that blossom in the courtyard, the life-size statue of Jesus, the "beautiful giant," to whom he confides his hopes and fears in the prayer room.
They soon initiate Chamdi into the brutal life of the city's homeless, begging all day and handing over most of his earnings to Anand Bhai, a vicious underworld don who will happily mutilate or kill whoever dares to defy him.
The city has erupted in Hindu-Muslim violence and, held in Anand Bhai's fierce grip, Chamdi is presented with a choice that threatens to rob him of his innocence forever.