Maneck Kohlah is a young lad born to a pair of very loving parents, in the mountainous state of India. His father, Mr. Kohlah owned a general store that had been a part of the family for as long as he could remember. Due to some government frauding and caste discrimination, the Kohlah's had their farm land cut in half. This forced them to rely heavily on their general store for income. Their store sold common household necessities and manufactured the locally popular soda; the Kohlah Cola. A majority of Maneck's youth was spent going to school (in which he became successful), helping at the family store, and going on pleasant walks with his father. Due to the the dwindling income and a slight change of heart/attitude of Mr. Kohlah, Maneck was sent to boarding school when he was came into grade 4. Maneck never liked the fact that his parents sent him to boarding school, because he really loved his life in his village, especially helping his father at his store. Due to this apparent stunt, Maneck's relationship with his parents begins to deteriorate; only because he feels betrayed from being separated from his parents, BY his parents. One time when Maneck comes home fr a vacation break from school, he is left with the shop for 2 days. Much to his delight, he decides to change some things around, to perhaps make the shop look better. Unfortunately, this stunt wasn't accepted by his father, as his father scolded him for making the shop look different than the one he left him in charge of. Maneck loses much respect for his father and begins to separate himself from his family, on purpose this time. It is obvious, Maneck's parents only want the best for him; so much that they are even willing to send him away if that is what it takes to educate him further. Much to Maneck's dismay again, they send him to a college and pick his major, "Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning," for him.
Maneck attends the college that was chosen for him, staying at the student hostel on campus. The night he first arrived at his hostel, he feels exhausted so he decides to settle in on the bed provided in his room. In the middle of the night, he feels something strange quickly crawling up his leg, and much to his surprise (and disgust), he discovers an infestation of cockroaches. Clearly disgusted, he does what anyone would do almost automatically, he started to stomp on the cockroaches. The student neighbouring Maneck hears and comes over with pesticide spray (makes Maneck's job a little easier haha). This neighbour actually becomes good friends with Maneck, and his name was Avinash, the student president of the school. Avinash teaches Maneck chess and they often play together when they have nothing else to do (almost all the time).
As anyone could tell, the hostel's living conditions were quite poor and the food was worse, in fact it was almost inedible. This problem was confiscated quickly to Maneck's delight, when a vegetarian student found meat in his soup. The students were disgusted and decide to nearly destroy the cafeteria workers. Luckily, the student president was there, Avinash, as he inspired the students and leads them in an uprising against the Institution for better conditions. Avinash becomes involved in political events, something Maneck doesn't care for, and their friendship, like most things in Maneck's life, deteriorates as it fails to become a priority in Avinash's life. The two apparent 'friends' saw each other quite infrequently, proving to Maneck again, he had no one.
When the Emergency is declared in India, political activists had to go into hiding in order to be safe, even students like Avinash need to stay low and get to safety. Maneck, no longer having friends in the hostel, attempts to have his parents accept him back home, but instead his mother arranges a different living sutation for him, and he moves in with Dina Dalal. Maneck still has Avinash's chess set, because he never got the chance to return it; it is the only token and memory he possesses of his friend Avinash. This is when the stories of Dina Dalal, Maneck Kohlah, along with the tailors Ishvar and Om Darji, started developing together, as the true story of Maneck's future was yet to begin.
