This novel is one of my most favorite and heart touching work by Benyamin, being himself a Gulf Keralite he writes about the life of a gulf Keralite who works in a desert. The books tell us about the real life which hardly people can imagine. Being myself working in the gulf for 3years I could relate the story in he has written with few of the lives I have witnessed. The story also reminds about the truth behind the fabulous beauty of Gulf.
The main character Najeeb who is portrayed in the novel a typical Keralite who want to work earn and lead a good life by earning a good job. with his dreams, he flys to gulf there he was cheated and he ends in a desert where he has to work as a care taker of sheep and camels his 'arabab' (master) was not a kind hearted man. without knowing the language or any superpowers he gets isolated from the rest of humanity his living conditions were miserable and he goes through extreme situations. He had no proper food shelter and he was denied from other basic humanitarian needs. He ate with got slept with them he felt the animals are better than humans. In the novel, he even talks to the animals. still, he had a hope for freedom and his faith in god helps him to keep the faith. 
with the help of his friend Ibrahim Khadiri who was a Somalian worker in nearby farm Najeeb and his another friend Hakeem elopes from the horrible life e to freedom. But walking across the desert fr days young Hakeem dies of thirst and fatigue and the others were caught by police on the way to Riyadh after he has to spend several months before they were deported to India.
Even if the novel has a happy ending it's sure that it will make your eyes wet.