They were the next generation, the children of revolutionaries and rebels and freethinkers, Harini recalls. Her parents were part of an intellectual circle in 1990s Bengaluru, comprising writers, activists, journalist, theatre and film people, thinkers of every persuasion. “The problem with the circle is that there is no exit point. It is entirely closed.” It is a chilling line from the now-37-year-old, who says she was one of many children preyed upon by a vernacular writer.