A Groom for Shakuntala

This is the story of my India, as it exists today. Through the lives of various characters, the reader can see the material progress India is making at the cost of spirituality and moral values. It is a tale of contrasts and clashes, poverty and riches. Set in Punjab, North India, spanning a period of six decades from the 1940s into the present, it describes the lives of two young women: Shakuntala Baksh, who is well-to-do and educated as opposed to Gulabo, the servant girl, who works in the Baksh bungalow. When Shakuntala marries Hakim, a Muslim from Afghanistan, her life is affected by the outrage of what used to be a very tolerant community. Her visit to Afghanistan at a time when the U.S. backed democratic government is losing its grip and the Taliban is regrouping triggers tragic consequences.

It is also a narrative about a legitimate, largely ineffective, corrupt, democratically elected state government, pitted against the sometimes benign, often cruel authority of a gangster called Commando. He rules because corruption is rife and good governance nonexistent. For him only a person matters, not his faith or the colour of his skin. ''Hindutva'' is the new word coined to draw people under one banner. Clashes occur, blood is shed, and fear rules the day. Power on both sides emanates from the barrel of a gun, a bag of cash, and a packet of Afghani heroin.