Thirteen-year-old Atiya will win the hearts of young readers. Although physically handicapped, her adventurous spirit takes her on lonely rambles into the wildlife sanctuary. She knows the ways of the jungle and its creatures great and small. Atiya Sardare lives with her dad, a forest officer. An only child, afflicted by polio, she finds solace and peace in the jungle, exploring it on short, secret, often dangerous treks. On one occasion she hears the haunting notes of a flute. It gives her goose bumps. She vows to learn to play the instrument much against her father's wishes. Her music lessons bring her close to the grouchy old anthropologist, Ogre Uncle, and his Kurumba tribal daughter, Mishora. Atiya's gift transforms her father's view, it calms the rogue elephant, Rangappa and helps nurture a blossoming friendship between a teenage boy and girl.