The story is set in the pre-independent India of the 40’s. The southern princely State of Travancore had its own professional executioner. Traditionally, he’s the head of a designated family. Settled way out in a border village, he was not to have any direct links with the mainstream society.
In return for the practice of the dreaded profession, he used to enjoy a few privileges : housing, agricultural land, a yearly allowance and special monetary benefits and gifts for each execution. All the same, nothing could compensate the haunting sense of guilt that plagued him.
