Love and Longing in Bombay (1997), the collection of stories in which "Dharma" appeared, was published at a time when literature written by Indians in English was enjoying unprecedented growth and critical acclaim. This development began in the 1980s with the publication of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (1981). The success of this novel convinced publishers in the West that there was a commercial market for Indian fiction.

Since then, many other Indian authors, writing in English, have made their mark outside their native land. In addition to Rushdie, these include Rohinton Mistry (Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance); Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things, which won Britain's prestigious Booker Prize), Anita Desai (Clear Light of Day and In Custody), Amit Chaudhuri (Freedom Song), Vikram Seth (A Suitable Boy), and Amitav Ghosh (Shadow Lines).

Although these writers are all from the Indian urban middle-and...