TRANSPLANTED MAN (2002)

This dreamy, earnest tale from medical professor Nigam unfolds in New York's Little India, where people are restless. Gifted young doctor Sonny sleepwalks at night; the title character -- an Indian politician who has had seven transplant operations -- molders in his hospital bed, dreaming of home; a hypokinetic man stands frozen in front of an Indian restaurant, drawing crowds from across the river; a pot-smoking orderly fantasizes about Bollywood stardom. The central metaphor may be appallingly easy (Transplanted man. Get it?), but otherwise this lovely addition to the growing canon of whimsical Indian-American lit is more than welcome.