The difficulty in writing memoirs is that if one praises oneself, it could be considered boasting, while if one criticizes oneself out of modesty, there is the fear that people will take it seriously.

Humorous situations, satirical observations, and philosophical reflections arise from the interactions between a British general manager of a bank, Mr. W.G.M. Anderson, and his protégé, Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi, an émigré from India, along with a diverse cast of characters including bankers, businessmen, bureaucrats, British expatriates, European diplomats, a donkey-cart driver, a cargo-ship captain, and an entrepreneur.

The plot progresses through the job interview, which reveals the real reason why the author was hired as an apprentice banker, the training, an embezzlement, a hunting trip on a bicycle, protocol for receiving a VIP, a cocktail party for the movers and shakers of Karachi society, the first and only theater in Karachi, the rainy season, recovering money from a bank fraud, office romance, office politics, and ends with the return of Mr. Anderson to Scotland. The setting is Karachi, a cosmopolitan city and the capital of Pakistan in the 1950s.

This translation retains the literary flavor and self-deprecating humor of the original. It has familiar landmarks for the listener through many references to Western literature and unveils fascinating aspects of the Indian subcontinent's culture and society.

The late Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi is among the foremost humorists in the Indian subcontinent of the Urdu language in the modern era. He was the recipient of several top literary and civilian awards in Pakistan.