To read the novel click the links to the chapters on the right

Many may find this an unusual way of writing a novel: I have been adding chapters from time to time.

From my point of view, this is not just an exercise in writing a novel, but learning to write it. So far, the comments and advice of the readers have been helpful in giving shape to my ideas. The views of the readers provide a third-person analysis which my own mind will take time to develop. Perhaps, the art of novel-writing — or any literature for that matter — is the art of reading your own writing as a reader. As you become a better writer in the eyes of the world, you are in fact becoming a better reader.

By now, I have introduced the main threads of the story, and the tangles have begun. Hopefully, these tangles will soon make the story so gripping that the readers will come back to it again and again. If you don’t find any additions to the story during the week, please check again on Sunday evening.

I may re-write portions from time to time as new ways of expressing emotions come to my mind during my repeated readings of the story.

The following strands of the novel will carry the story forward in future:

* Sheetal’s one-time lover suddenly comes back into her life, making it the arena of emotional storms and conflicts. As an Indian woman brought up on ideas of chastity of a married woman, fears of a broken marriage and public calumny, she cannot accept to go back to her former lover. And yet, she finds it difficult to completely keep herself away from someone who somehow answers to her emotional nature with greater concord than a husband whose every action is guided by the philosophy that emotions, like horses, must be bridled. She is torn between a man with whom she has shared wild emotions and a man with whom who has lived a decade-and-a-half of calm married life.

* Sundar Ganesh Pillai, the wealthy man, lies dying and this strand, as it develops further, will explore the social and spiritual meanings of death.

* Sheetal’s daughter Naavika has attained age. Her heart has just begun to throb, and she finds the change uncomfortable. Will the Sheetal-Rajesh-Kuntal triangle cast a shadow on her psychology and her emotional life?

* Kuntal believes that Naavika is his daughter. Sheetal could not tell him the truth at the crucial moment when the question came up. Now that he is back, he feels he rather than Rajesh should possess Sheetal. He committed Rashid’s murder in a fit of anger, and he now feels that he ruined his life because of Sheetal. He is desperate and can do anything to get Sheetal back. What complications will this create in the story? How safe is Rajesh with Kuntal around him?

There are other strands that will enter the story in due course. One of the most poignant will be a family of wrestlers taking on rent the ground floor of a pious violinist’s house who considers everything other than the mellow sound of violin as noise.

With this background, if you click on the story chapter by chapter, you will hopefully enjoy the novel, and will feel motivated to come back to see how the story develops further. Your feedback will give me an idea of how far I have been able to bring out on paper (or, blog?) what exists in my mind.

Please give your feedback, if you feel motivated to do so, either on this weblog or on my email id argodahen@gmail.com

Thanks for reading this passage.

Click here to start reading.

Important Note: I had to add a numbering of the type (A1), (A2) etc. to ensure that the chapters are arranged serially. Otherwise, Chapter 10 tends to come after Chapter 1. Please ignore this A1, A2 numbering and go by the chapter numbers.

This novel in print: Some day I plan to publish this novel in print. It will be priced at 10 dollars. As soon as I have ready money, I plan to wind up this blog and bring out the novel in print form. In case you wish to buy the novel in print, send an email to argodahen@gmail.com