At The Wedding A Tale of Roots Romance Prophecy

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Aruna Jethwani is an award winning author, writer and an educationist. She has to her credit three novels-Another Love, Another Sky (AGI award 2005), Dance O' Peacock (2010); two poetry books, two self-help books, one edited short stories in translation, and a biography. Her short stories are translated in regional languages. A collection of the same is published in Marathi. Her translation of Sadhu Vaswani's mystical journey from Sindhi to English is well received. She has widely written for the national press.

Aruna Jethwani is the former Principal of St. Mira's College for Girls, Pune. A Sunday painter, Aruna is currently involved in creative writing, translation and community work.

A vibrant and ambivalent Anuradha has something up her sleeves which sends her mother into a tipsy. The secret is revealed at the wedding, which takes place in a remote village- Bhadran- for sentimental reasons. A whole panorama of Sindhi and Gujarati culture opens up here. The story unfolds the filial bonds, the desire for the Diaspora to touch the roots; of the migrants and emigrants growing open roots, of alienation and identity crises. The characters of the novel, the local social set- up and the rich traditions interact to highlight the pathos in pain of displaced people, the nostalgia and emotional problems of the minority communities and the great historical process of social and cultural synthesis.

The narration of the Karachi bomb blast (1947) gives the novel a political flavour. And when Anuradha's fiancé arrives from the USA, the story takes a turn! Somewhere a strong message is passed on to the younger generation living abroad ........Blend the best of your inheritance with that of the country of your adoption.

Each chapter is complete by itself. It can be read as a separate story. Yet every chapter is linked with the other in a subtle way through the narration, which takes the reader to "the wedding'. It is here that the Prophecy is read, hinting at the unification of the sub- continent.