Mahesh Rao Mahesh Rao was born and grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. His debut novel, The Smoke is Rising (also published by Daunt Books), won the Tata First Novel Award, and was shortlisted for the Shakti Bhatt Prize and the Guardian's No the Booker Prize (voted by readers). His short stories have been shortlisted for the 2013 Bridport Prize, the 2012 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the 2010 Zoetrope: All-Story Short Fiction Contest. Rao lives in Mysore, India. Read More Read Less