Synopsis
What is Virtual Reality wondered Smriti. In her younger days things were
either real or unreal. Life’s getting too complicated with these new fangled
inventions. Virtual according to her was that which was implicit but not
according to strict definition. Growing up with the concept that conventional
reality does not exist; that all phenomena are merely an illusion (Maya), this
further confounded a complicated situation. What was virtually real in an
(supposedly) illusionary world? Anyway she didn’t go in for deep philosophical
debates, for Smriti, her family was central to her existence. When her son
winged his way to America did she force herself to use the computer as a means
of communication. She who had always been frightened and uneasy of any new
gadget, whether it was the washing machine or the latest flat screen T.V. With
an easy-going husband who decided to stay on in Jaipur despite the constant
urging of his son and wife. Smriti remained torn between the two, when death
stepped in leaving her devastated and rudderless. Out of sheer old habit she
scrolled down her e-mail, she was in for a surprise!
In The Haven a loving father faces the slings and arrows of fate with
equanimity, but his anxiety and loyalty for his deranged son crosses all known
limits of parental concern and stretches across many borders….
What does one seek in life _ name, fame and wealth? What if in the process
one bends a few rules? In Quixotic Quest the protagonist tries every trick in
the trade to hang on to power, only to realize the futility of it all. The
maniacal laughter of his mentally retarded son sets him off on another more
vital journey, in search of the eternal and ultimate power. His impulsive action
leaves behind a distraught and betrayed family who had become accustomed to all
the good things of life which come with power. A chance encounter with this son
again, who recognizes him amongst a group of wandering sadhus, forces him to
accept that the quest was far from over. Set in a small town of
India it captures the subtleties of the give and take between the upholders of
law and the law makers. The compulsions of the devoted wife of the cop and the
chicaneries and intrigues of the politicians….
In the Land of Adipoz, a slim and trim mother of teenage sons!
Unheard of in our mother’s time. A plump matronly figure was okay in yester
years. It doesn’t hold so any longer as Mrinalini struggles to fit into the
modern image of a slim modern mother, it takes her to unknown and bizarre
lands.
In Beleagured, the protagonist is surrounded on all sides, she
knows that she has to battle it out alone, after her husband deserts her, she
gives in, on a moment of weakness and fear…
In Bringing up Mother an apparently conventional mother, with a
fiery rebellious mind could be a concern for any child. Particularly so for
Sohail who was sensitive boy and extremely close to his mother. He couldn’t
imagine that a sudden, indifferent remark of his would lead to such a disastrous
conclusion…
Every little girl now dreamt of becoming a Miss World or a
Universe. Nobody was willing to settle for any less, ever since Indian girls had
managed to win these crowns few years in a row. With it the girl and her family
got catapulated to celebrity status over night! It appeared all so easy, but
what happens when the international standards of super thin changes to a more
rounded figures? A mother watches in horror as her daughter programmed for the
beauty pageants, loses all grip on reality…
Kaalkunj an abode in time, Ninotchka discovers the passions and
intrigues that ruled the lives of people on planet Earth and which finally led
to it’s destruction. Inextricably mixed up in this voyage of discovery are her
great-grandparents. The appeal of the lonely Mota Didu was difficult to resist,
as she forgets, time and space in a rush to embrace her.
In Cyclonic Vacation, the not-so-young professor wonders whether
women are creatures of the night, are they fascinated by all unnatural
phenomenas? This question was to haunt the middle-aged professor on his holiday
to a remote town of Rajasthan, with his young, impulsive wife. The cyclone
creates an upheaval in his life…
In ‘Queen of hearts Advika a spoilt, pampered girl finds herself
betrayed by her family when she announces her decision to marry someone her
family feels is ‘beneath them’. She is their favourite daughter once she agrees
to their choice. Her journey to self-discovery is not easy as she has to learn
to accept the hypocrisies and lies of her near and dear ones.
A rock face, which looks just like a thin woman, wrapped in an
odhni. Why did it haunt LalChand’s every waking moment? In A Rocky Trial, the
long forgotten relationship he had with his first wife Paanchi Bai comes back to
LalChand, in a strange, twisted manner. However, she does manage to take her
revenge for all the past injustices…..
This is a collection of stories of anger and bitterness, love
and loss, loneliness, change, oppression, grief, endurance, fear and death. They
move one through a gamut of emotions but most importantly they move the reader
to give a cry of recognition- yes this is what it feels like being a human in
this way, time and time again.
