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Year: 1992

The narrow, rugged lanes of Banaras have witnessed millions of unbelievable, miraculous incidents, mostly which are the devotees seeking salvation from their sinful deeds, but few incidents are of those lives, who could not seek any salvation, any relief throughout their lifetime and maybe... after death.

Miraculous? Unbelievable? Do we count such unheard incidents too in miracles? Yes. The divinity of the holy river here, Ganga has washed out the dark stains of many bright lives. But, what about those, whose lives were themselves so dark, that washing them out meant, ending their lives?

Aprajita had grown up playing and running through these lanes. With her left hand lifted up to carry wooden toy fan which rotated its colorful paper vanes, as she increased her speed, and right hand tightly curled around her little sister's fingers, eight-year-old Aprajita's sonorous laughter had filled all the possible emptiness that could be, in those heavily crowded lanes.

But the innocence that laced her laughter vanished gradually as she grew up, and turned into tight-lipped fake smiles, all because of Shankarlal Chandra Trivedi, one of the head priests of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, and her own father. Champa Kunj, the haveli, where one could not even breath without permission, Trivedi daughters had learned to rebel. And it was definitely not a surprise to the high-profile family, when one of the daughters dared to dream, and the other dared to fall in love.

With life hanging between father's suffocating words and her love, twenty-year-old Aprajita finds herself catching the first train to Dilli, in a hope of finding solace. What she unmindfully forgets is that solace is never a place where one can travel to, it is always someone or somewhere, whom one can refer to as their home. Her search continues through the smoke and wrong crowd of the big city, until she realizes, the presence she was scrutinizing through everyone, was left behind, forgotten, in those narrow, rugged lanes of Banaras itself.

Aur phir dhundhne uss laaparwaah khilkhilaahat ko

lautungi phir kabhi, haathon se sapne pakde huye

ganga kinaare, puraani, bisri, yaadon mein doob jaane ko

waapis unn banaras ki galiyon mein daud jaane ko...

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a tale of complete fiction, which scratches the reality of happy lives

a tale of that search, which everyone is a part of

a tale of seeking home in own family

a tale of finding life in burnt ashes

a tale of Aprajita

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Disclaimer

This book is entirely fictional and has no resemblance with reality. The names of the places and the societal positions (religious or not) mentioned, are only for the relatability of the plot and they are not meant to claim anything about the place or the people living/belonging to those places. Any resemblance with people, living or deceased and similarity in rituals is purely coincidental.

This book includes elements which can be triggering for a certain category of society. It also highlights some ill societal and religious practices which is necessary for the flow of its plot, but it does not intend to disrespect, disregard or make fun of any religion, culture, caste, city or practices.

This is a dark-themed but is not marked as a mature novel, because it has been tried to show scenes with least immodesty and indecency. However, if the reader is an under-adult or can be triggered with themes like deaths, suicides, drug abuse, child abuse, violence, etcetera, and avoids/are against such sensitive themes/contents, then I would suggest them to not continue this book, with all due respect.

This book is penned in English and has few elements of Hindi to showcase Indian culture. It also contains Hindi verses and poetries, their English translation would be provided (at few instances it may not be provided if it does not affect the understanding of the story) and at the end of each chapter, a glossary will define the Hindi terms used in text. This book can be easily read by non-Hindi readers.

copyright © swords_of_ink 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this book and its contents may be reproduced, modified, posted or adapted without the prior consent by the author in written format.

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b u r n t   i n   a s h e s

c o m i n g   s o o n

f o l l o w.  s a v e.  s h a r e.  p r o m o t e.

a l s o    d o n' t    f o r g e t    t o   v o t e

~N.