"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
Thousands of years of evolution and yet we often get this feeling that we have failed as a race. Notwithstanding the tremendous technological progress, we have this unpleasant intuition that we are heading for a disaster. Why have we failed to evolve into a balanced and judicious civilization? One of the glaring explanations for our debacle is the fact that one half of the race has contrived to keep the other half – the women – subdued and deprived of most privileges. How can one expect a race to evolve to its full potential if half of its members continue to suffer exploitation and abuse? Also, we have this regressive habit of referring to historical events, buildings, and identities to create hatred and animosity in the present that ultimately causes destruction in form of war and riots.
Deconstructing Existence, an account of an American woman’s journey to self-discovery in the cradle of civilization and spirituality (India), is an attempt to not just raise questions that have been staring us in our faces for a long time but also point towards the possible answers or solutions. Nicole, a victim of extreme abuse in the US, travels to India in a quest to rediscover and reclaim her lost identity and self-possession. Her journey through India takes her from the crowded and yet fascinating lanes of New Delhi to the mystical and stunningly picturesque landscapes of Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh. In the course of her journey, her relationship with Aryan – an idiosyncratic guide; interaction with Shirin – a fiery engineering student; and a special bond with Archana – a crusader of women’s rights, lead to an overwhelmingly transformative experience.
VISHAL SHARMA
Ever wondered what makes people pen down their thoughts, ideas, and imagination and offer it to the world in the hope of acceptance and propagation? As I advanced in years and experienced and observed life closely, I realized that I wanted to communicate on a variety of issues with not just a handful of people but the people living in all corners of the globe. The only way to do so, I concluded, was to either make a motion picture or write a book. I weighed the two and found that a book is a much better medium as it allows for the growth of content or text as against a motion picture that gives the viewers mostly a linear perspective.
An author, I feel, is born the moment an urge to relate to and converse with fellow humans en masse is kindled inside us. I have lived and served as a government official for about fifteen years in India that is touted to be the fastest growing economy and the world’s biggest democracy. However, there are a multitude of issues that have been troubling me acutely. The biggest and the most worrying one is the status of women and their continuing maltreatment in present day society. I wanted to highlight and strongly condemn the sadistic attitude of our male centric society towards women. I also had a strong desire to comment on the ridiculously regressive approach we tend to adopt towards history, historical monuments, and war. Hence the book.
