Deepti Kapoor’s “The Age of Vice” is a captivating story set in modern India, highlighting the sharp differences between wealth and poverty. This novel explores themes of ambition, morality, and the complexities of human nature through the lives of three main characters: Neda, a journalist, embodies the relentless pursuit of truth, Sunny Wadia; charming but troubled heir, represents the weight of privilege and Ajay, a servant, born into poverty, who rises through the Wadias’ business empire.
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor begins with a dramatic incident: a luxury Mercedes hits a group of homeless people in New Delhi, killing several, including a mother and her unborn child. The driver, a drunk man who isn’t the car’s owner, is arrested. In prison, Ajay, the young man caught up in the chaos, endures constant harassment until he’s pushed to retaliate, triggering a chain of events that exposes his connection to a powerful family. Recognising who he is, the prison authorities move him to safety. From this turning point, the story then takes us back to Ajay’s past…
Ajay’s journey is the emotional core of the novel. Born into extreme poverty in rural Uttar Pradesh, Ajay is sold into a form of servitude after his father’s brutal death. Over time, he climbs the ranks of the Wadia organisation, eventually offered a position in the household.
Through Ajay’s eyes, we come to understand Sunny, the complex, spoilt but charismatic of the Wadia family. On the surface, Sunny is charming and carefree, masking deep internal conflict. He harbours a desire to break free from his family’s criminal activities and make a difference, particularly through a seemingly noble riverside development project. He begins to see a riverside development project as a genuine chance to improve Delhi, only for it to be exposed as a massive property fraud.
Neda, is a journalist who enters Sunny’s life as his lover. Neda’s perspective adds a critical layer to the narrative, as she is both an insider and an outsider—an observer trying to uncover the truth while also being drawn into the moral murk of the Wadia family. Her journey provides valuable context to the world of corruption that Sunny and Ajay inhabit, especially as she begins to realise how much she, too, is complicit in the system she once believed she could expose.
“I didn’t even know there was such a thing as ethics in journalism,” she admits in an unsent confessional email to her former editor. “I knew injustice when I saw it, in a novel, on the news, but I never understood the process of its creation.”
This is Kali Yuga,” she declares in the same email, “the losing age, the age of vice.
These lines, directly from Neda’s reflections in the novel, highlighting her disillusionment with the corrupt systems she’s investigating. These lines capture Neda’s emotional and intellectual conflict as she navigates the blurred lines between personal and professional ethics in a world dominated by power and moral compromise.
Age of Vice is a masterful narrative that offers a brutal yet fascinating look at modern India’s socio-political landscape. Kapoor’s writing is both engaging and thought-provoking, and while the latter half of the book may lose some of the earlier intensity, it remains an ambitious work that solidifies Kapoor as one of contemporary India’s most exciting voices in fiction. If you enjoy fast-paced thrillers with rich social commentary, Age of Vice is an absolute must-read.
