Once Upon a Time is a story of Madhava Kulkarni's struggle with poverty and indifference, his rise to eminence through the good offices and encouragement of Seth Nemichand, an up and coming industrialist. Madhava, along with his associates, is instrumental in building Seth Nemichand's industrial empire of which the most visible symbol is Shantinagar,a small private sugar factory town. The novel gives an engaging account of how Seth Nemichand, inspired by Gandhiji's dream of an organic village, sets up a model township which is the envy of political powers-that-be. As a result, Once Upon a Time does not remain the usual rags-to-riches story of an individual but becomes a tragic tale of the rise and slow disintegration of an industrial house similar to the vicissitudes of a royal family in ancient Greek drama.