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COMIC-CON INDIA
CHHOTU:
A TALE OF PARTITION AND LOVE
“A MODEST LITTLE GEM.”
India Today
The year is 1947. The British are slowly marking their departure from the country. And while partition looms large over India, Chhotu, a student-cum-paranthe-cook in the dusty gullies of Chandni Chowk, has other things on his mind—like feeling the first flushes of love of his crush, Heer, the new girl at school.
When he finally decides to make a move, Chhotu soon finds the town’s aloo has suddenly gone missing, reluctantly embroiling himself into the world of corruption, crime and dons. As he struggles to understand what freedom truly means, Chhotu realizes one thing is for certain—that his world, and the world of those around him, is about to change forever.
Set against the backdrop of partition and the horrors that followed, Chhotu is a coming-of-age story of an unlikely hero and a parable of a past that doesn’t feel too removed from the present.
“Stylishly wry humour and depth.”
- THE HINDU
"Part novel, part art and equal parts tender love and boundless suffering, this coming-of-age story is a commentary on something more pervasive and endemic if you scratch beneath the surface. It is a commentary on the violence and oppression that persist to this day."
- OUTLOOK MAGAZINE
“Wild, imaginative and tender, it may be only through love stories like Chhotu that we can return to our darkest hour and begin reparations for another kind of future to which we can all belong.”
- VAZIRA ZAMINDAR
“The playful simplicity of Chhotu’s artwork conceals a well-constructed and heartfelt graphic novel about India’s partition trauma... Like the hero, it’s a modest little gem.”
- INDIA TODAY
“Sharp irony and crackling humor, it offers a poignant understanding of a time when fear, bigotry, political machinations, and violence overtook everyday life.”
- GYAN PRAKASH
“Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love is at its heart, a tale of love, courage, and self-discovery... All in all, a beautiful amalgamation of love, exploration, politics, and tonnes of Bollywood masala, Chhotu is definitely not one to be missed.”
- HOMEGROWN
Varud Gupta is an award winning Author and Visiting Professor.
Varud Gupta is an award winning Author and Visiting Professor.
He has written the graphic novel Chhotu: A Tale of Love and Partition (Comic Con India “Best Writer”) and the travelogue Food of the Gods (Gourmand Cookbook shortlist for “Peace”) both with Penguin Random House with a sequel to the graphic novel set to release in 2026. His short graphic fiction has appeared in the quarterly Comixense and Inklab zine, while his food and travel articles have appeared in National Geographic and America's Test Kitchen.
He received his bachelors in Finance from New York University and MFA in Creative Writing at Columbia University where he received the Felipe P. De Alba fellowship and served as the Director of the Columbia Artist / Teachers program. He has taught with Columbia University, Center for Fiction, 826NYC, and Gotham Writers.
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