Growing up in the small town of Sripuri, six-year-old Hari believes his mother died from tuberculosis. It s what his father, Vasan, has always told him. But when Hari seeks more answers from his distant yet affectionate father, who, between his meditation classes, dietary experiments and constant headaches, has little time for Hari, he soon realizes that he is trespassing on forbidden territory. And then a couple arrives at their doorstep, claiming to be his real parents. Hari s life takes a course over which he has no say. Spanning decades and told from the points of view of the four central figures, Bystanders is the tale of the unlikely friendship between one man driven to prove his worth in the world, another determined to lose himself in the moment, and the woman they love, who will fight against all odds to claim what is hers her son."