Once Upon a Monsoon Time is the author's recollections of his childhood spent in an old palace by the Arabian Sea and in his grandmother's house in Dehra Dun. The story revolves round his relationship with his father who is as central to the story as the young boy himself. It also records his love of trees and the vibrant life nurtured by them, his explorations of the fascinating stories woven around the palace as well as his grandmother's most cherished possessions preserved carefully in an old trunk, his interesting array of friends and his varied experiences with them as he grows up and begins to understand the world even as his familiar surroundings start to fall apart.
