Devendra Joshi Chapter 1: The Call of the Deccan Vikram Roy had spent the last five years of his life chasing fleeting successes in the dusty archives and half-excavated ruins of India, always just one breakthrough away from recognition. An ambitious archaeologist from Kolkata, he had always dreamed of discovering something monumental, something that would put him on the map. But the years had not been kind to his career. Vikram had slowly become disillusioned with the field, his excitement replaced by a mechanical pursuit of academic accolades and citations. The phone call from his superior was unexpected, yet not…