Here’s a handy little book for teenagers. “There have never been more young people at one time in one place in all of human history,” says the author, dedicating the book to his teenaged daughter. One of its highlights is catchy mantras incorporated into songs in the accompanying CD. Here’s a sample of pithy and thought-provoking lines which fill the book: There are infinite possibilities to the extent of human relationships. But “the thing that holds all and any relationship is this: feed it.” When faced with peer pressure, “never let someone else choose for you.” If you want to jump over a high wall or smoke, do it because YOU want to, and not just because all
your friends are doing it. Rebellion is “when you respect your own views a little more than what people older than you do.” “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Atlas Shrugged
are both filled with difficult concepts but they are never dense, never deliberately obfuscated,” the writer says. We can say the same for this book, which won’t show you the way but would guide you to find it on your own.

This long-awaited novel lives up to the expectations. The author explores the subtle nuances of love and betrayal and the subterfuge people resort to in order to disguise their true feelings. There are no winners or losers in this game of forbidden love. There are only damaged lives.

Devyani lives alone. Her life is peaceful with time for tending a lovely garden and nurturing warm friendships. Devyani enjoys her life of hard-won social and economic independence as a teacher, until the arrival of Ashok Chinnappa, the new District Superintendent of Police. Ashok is older and married, yet he and Devyani fall desperately in love, knowing they have no future. Shashi Deshpande masterfully explores the complexities, the anomalies of love. Devyani believes in the institution of marriage. She knows that it is treacherous to deceive one’s spouse, yet she is inexorably sucked into a terrifying vortex. Devyani knows this is not simple lust,
which she can deal with. As she loses control, she no longer understands what she truly wants or cares about. The author weaves an eminently readable, timeless tale.