The Apparition, MG VassanjiIt’s the 13th century, and Delhi is slowly slipping into decline under the ageing Sultan Alauddin Khilji. No one knows what it is, but the persistence of the apparition and its passivity seem to portend something sinister. The Sultan orders Amir Hassan al-Shirazi – Sufi, poet, intellectual and, some would say, the Sultan’s favourite – to investigate this cosmic phenomenon. Hassan’s search takes him to every quarter of Delhi, and everywhere, paranoia, confusion and fear reign supreme. Meanwhile, his nephew Darrel, unaware of the struggles of their lives, envies his uncle’s family and dreams of moving to Bahrain himself.