Jewel Less Crown: Saga Of Life

It's perilous penning this blurb. It's fine when man is modest about his work. It even affords him the aura of an invisible crown!But what about his work? Were it an art or craft, it is there for all to see.What of a literary work of an unheralded author? Well, lauding the same might raise one's eyebrows. Failing to praise wouldn't make a 'jewel-less crown' either! Why not see, if this is the great Indian novel.This is the story of the rise and fall of an ambitious man, the decline, and the decay of his conniving wife, the trials, and tribulations of their wayward son as well as the grit and gall of a spirited woman, who enters into his life. This depiction of their life and times not only pictures the facets of ambition and achievement, intrigue and betrayal, compulsion and compromise, sleaze and scandal, trial and sentence, but also portrays the possibilities of repentance and resolution, love and empathy coupled with compassion and contribution, leading to the spirituality of materialism, and that makes it the saga of our times.The story of a lifetime, truly.This story is scripted inBook One, Artha and Kama,1. Party Gone Sour2. Trauma at Tihar3. Mind of the Maligned4. Twist at Tis-Hazari5. Trial in Camera6. Dilemma of Qualms7. Moment of Reckoning8. End within End9. Vestiges of Prestige10. High on Rebound11. Bellows of Delhi12. Dicing with Life13. Spidering Spadework14. Loss to Order15. Daring the Fate16. Victims of Deceit17. Baring the Soul18. Garland of Guilt.Book Two, Dharma and Moksha1. Bliss of Being2. Collage of Crime3. Domain of the Devil4. Renaissance of Life5. Sprouts of Love6. Despair of Hope7. Turn at the Bend8. Amity of Empathy9. Day to Remember10. Spirituality of Materialism11. Sense of Reincarnation12. Epilogue.Book excerpt for the feel of its literary style - Party Gone SourThat New Year's Eve, all the nouveau riche of
New Delhi
seemed to have gathered at the Misty Nest in their ubiquitous wear. While women
wore designer dresses, men turned up in safari suits. Hosting them at their
grand dwelling in the Defense Colony were the Gautams, Prabhu and Sneha. By the
time the last guest was hugged in welcome, Gautam’s silk kurta and Sneha’s mink coat were truly crumpled. Augmenting the
warmth of their bonhomie was the Glenfiddich with soda. In time, while
the lure of the Scotch drove many into the lap of Bacchus, the allure of Venus
enticed others to ogle at the desirable. But, above all, it was Gautam’s good-humored
banter and Sneha’s sensuous charm that lent aura to that midnight rendezvous.When
the New Year was an hour away in its coming, what with the inebriated becoming
tardy in their tangos, the going got really bawdy. As Sneha too got into the act,
there was a virtual riot for a round with her. When someone went overboard to
bottom pinch her, she paid back with a belly punch that regaled the gathering.As the
gigantic clock was all set to halve the night, the antique chandeliers were put
off. When the radium hands went straight up on the dial, the ribaldry reached a
new low on the floor. At that, as the Gautams goaded all to raise their hands
to fold out the year on hand, the boozers struggled to get on to their feet to
welcome the year in the offing. But, for its part, the antique piece welcomed
the incoming year with the first of its twelve chimes that reverberated in that
sprawling banquet hall.In the
prevailing darkness, the euphoria that followed led to a fresh round of
bear-hugs amongst the sexes before the stewards switched on the chandeliers as
though to let those bear witness to the goings on. As if that translucence
showed the revelers the reality of life, sanity was restored in that exuberant
setting, and soon the pangs of hunger made the gathering scamper for the buffet
of varied cuisines, brought from the capital’s five-star restaurants.When
the hosts went up to the table to pick up their plates, a steward alerted
Gautam to an urgent telephone call. Soon, seeing her man turn all pale, Sneha
made her way to him in apprehension. When Gautam made her privy to their
unfolding tragedy in an undertone, Sneha nearly swooned into his arms. The news
of Suresh Prabhu, the heir to their business empire, hauled up in the lock-up
was enough to unnerve her. That he was booked for rape and murder as well
ravaged her soul no end. In her state of shock, she was unable to comprehend
what Gautam mumbled into her ear to lift up her spirits.Having
realized that they were attracting undue attention, Gautam led his wife into
the anteroom, leaving the gathering with a free rein on the rumor mill. The
breaking news, set in motion by someone who had eavesdropped on the hosts’
conversation, gained circulation with understandable exaggeration. And there
followed an intense debate about the eventual outcome of the current indictment
that led to the Gautams’ predicament. The indignant gathering, in one tone,
roundly censured the hosts for the fall of their only offspring. For once,
everyone seemed to agree that loose morals would only bring ruin in the end,
even for the rich and famous. Of course, even the mighty of the world are bound
to fail on the false path, so emerged the consensus. Even those who professed
closeness to the Gautams maintained that they knew all along that things would
come to this pass with Suresh, sooner than later.Such
are the ways of the world that the lows of life would turn the admirers into
critics, and what is worse; make the naive speak as the know-all.Closeting
with Sneha, Gautam assured her that he would pull out all the stops to free
Suresh in no time. But Sneha was terrified that the magnitude of the indictment
might be beyond the endurance of their son. In spite of her awareness of their
political clout and the loopholes of law, her sixth sense gave a dissenting
note, making her apprehensive about the possibility of her son coming clean out
of this messy case. But as hope coupled with her confidence in her go-getter
man calmed her nerves a little, Gautam led her back into the banquet hall.When
the besieged couple resurfaced, what with everyone feigning camaraderie and
volunteering help, hypocrisy seemed to rule the roost on the human stage. As if
to show up the fallacy of human sympathy, appeared malice to induce innuendoes
about the perceived closeness of Sneha with the powers that be.'Why,
in this topsy-turvy,’ said a naughty one, ‘her leeway is bound to come in
handy, won’t it?’Not to
be left out, curiosity too entered the arena to tie the crowd to the unfolding
drama. When the hosts tried to make light of the incident as but a storm in the
teacup, the guests maintained that they would not desert the ship in the storm.
With his appeals for a premature adieu falling on deaf ears, Gautam left for
South Extension with an entrapped feeling. Thereafter, preyed upon by her
guests, Sneha remained a prisoner in her own palace.