Madan's hut of mud and reeds on the outskirts of a village is hardly a shelter against sodden skies or bitter wintry winds. Yet it holds the promise of a better future: against all odds, Madan's son Kamal excels in school and forklifts himself and his family out of the grip of abject poverty. A work of fiction originally written in Dogri, Hashiye Par tells the story of the jheewars from the Chenab valley in Jammu who have, for untold centuries, been living on the brink. Shailender Singh illuminates a hundred hidden details of Madan's life without either romanticizing or patronizing it as he tells a tale of despair and hope.