World of Books and Travel

At last I have finished my second novel "Cherished", got it edited, and sent it for publication. The story - Grishma, accompanied by her father and her four month old baby Jyothi, boards the train to Delhi to join her husband, to surprise him with an unexpected visit. She dreams of a happy family life with him. Little does she know that her journey will end in havoc to her life. 19 years later, Grishma’s daughter Jyothi, longing for her father’s love and a family reunion determines to search for her father, despite her mother’s strong protests. She succeeds in her mission, but will he accept her as his daughter? This is the heartwarming story of Jyothi’s pursuit of parental love, which she considers her legitimate right.

When starting a novel, I always worry about the first line. So much time is spent on the first line. Here I mention about the first lines of some of my favorite novels. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami. - Khaled Hosseini in - A Thousand Splendid Suns On a sticky August evening two weeks before her due date, Ashima Ganguli stands in the kitchen of a Central Square apatment, combining Rice Krispies and Planters peanuts and chopped red onion in a bowl. - Jumpa Lahiri in The Namesake In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains. - Ernes...

I recently launched "The Second Choice", my debut novel in English. Though it was started long ago, it was completed recently, and got it published by a small publisher Songbyrde Publications. I didn't want to spend further time by sending it to several big publishers and wait indefinitely for a response. Since publishing has become much easier now I took the shorter route. It is also available as ebook. For more info - check here.