As the author himself says, this is not a jail diary. Nor is it an account of the Emergency. It is rather a ‘side light’ on the Emergency. Malkani writes about his experience of it—of what he, as a detenu, ‘saw, heard, thought and felt’ in prison. He spent the twenty-one months in three prisons— Hissar, Rohtak and Tihar—where he met a variety of people, from criminals to top-notch politicians. This is a very human document about them—sometimes amusing, sometimes sad, sometimes traumatic. 
The many hours of solitude in prison gave the author the opportunity to deeply analyse the Hindu-Muslim problem, towards which he has offered new and hopeful insights. 
The book is sensitively written, full of intimate anecdotes, not without political insight, and makes very interesting reading. It offers not only a personal viewpoint, but a glimpse into the lives of all detenus.

Birth: Hyderabad Sindh, November 19, 1921.
Education: M.A. , in Economics & Politics, Bombay University (D.G. National College, Hyderabad Sindh, Fergusson College, Pune, School of Economics & Sociology, Bombay); joined RSS 1941.
Lecturer D.G. National College 1945-47, sub-Editor, Hindustan Times 1948; Editor, The Organiser Weekly 1948-1983; Editor, The Motherland Daily 1971-75; MISA Detenu: June1975-March 1977. Nieman fellow, Harvard University 1961-62; General Secretary, Editors Guild of India 1978-79; Member, Press Delegation to China 1978; Vice-Chairman, Deendayal Res¬earch Institute, Delhi 1983-91; Vice President, BJP, 1991-1994; Member, Rajya Sabha 1994-2000. Currently Lt Governor of Pondicherry.
Publications:The Midnight Knock'(1977), The RSS Story' (1980), The Sindh Story' (1984), 'Ayodhya and Hindu-Muslim Relations'(1993).