I was born in 1935, in the small town of Kollengode in Palakkad district, Kerala, the first of my parents' nine children. My father called me 'Lily' even though the official name on my birth certificate was 'Sulekha'. We didn't have a radio at home when I was a child. Instead, my sisters and I would stand at our porch and watch people come and go on the street. Our house, 'Lily Cottage', was on the main road and so we were able to see almost anyone who passed by our house each day. So begins the extraordinary, ordinary story of Lily Tharoor. Born in rural Kerala, Lily would go on to inspire her family and friends around the world-including her three children, Shashi, Shobha, and Smita-with her adventurous spirit, ambition, and unusual life philosophy. Book jacket.