Mohan Karan has been blessed with exceptional good looks-and a rare blood type. An orphan with few connections, he finds that his degree in English literature is unable to secure him a proper job. However, he discovers he can make good money by selling his blood to a private blood bank. And while this opens up unexpected possibilities for this unemployed graduate, little does he realise that it all comes at great personal cost.

This is the gist of the incredibly gripping novel Ek Boond Lahoo Ki, that launched the literary career of Joginder Paul, one of the greatest Urdu novelists of the 20th century. Named A Drop of Blood, the English translation has been done by Snehal Shingavi. The novel cleverly explores the insidious ways in which the mighty habitually prey upon the vulnerable and weak and is a powerful satirical take on institutional corruption and greed.

Then e-book will release on May 12

Paul was a highly renowned and award-winning writer of Urdu fiction and an important figure in the Progressive Writers' Movement. His work has garnered praise and popularity in the realm of Urdu literature. Ek Boond Lahoo Ki (published in Penguin Classics as A Drop of Blood) was his first novel and remains one of his most significant works.