The Henna Start-Up

A young adult romance about a young tech girl with big ambitions set in Bangalore

Abir Maqsood is angry.

She has things to do: a career to carve, money to earn, and, in the small stuff, a dining table to fix. But there are many obstacles in the way: lack of money, her parents’ over-protective attitude, and a most annoying distraction in class called Arsalan.

When her mother is not paid her dues for her henna service, Abir resolves to help her by creating a henna app. Her college is also running a program for student start-ups so things look most fortuitous. But the path to getting funding is littered with more thorns than roses.

As Abir navigates through college, friendships and social pressures with determination, will she find the freedom that she is truly looking for?

Andaleeb Wajid is the author of fourteen published novels, including More than Just Biryani, Asmara’s Summer and Twenty-nine Going on Thirty. Her young adult novel When She Went Away was shortlisted for The Hindu Young World GoodBooks Award (2017). She enjoys writing about romance and food, and is also a creative writing facilitator at Nutcracker Workshops.