Ajay believes in living for himself; Bhavna teaches him to live for others. Ajay is a planner for life; Bhavna makes him live in every moment. You are the Best Wife is a story of two people with contradictory ideologies who fall in love. It changes them for good. It changes the way they look at the world and the way the world looks at them. Until destiny reveals its plans. This is a true inspiring story of the author and his struggle with life, after his beloved wife left him halfway through their journey. But her last words, ‘you are the best husband’ gave him the strength to live on, and fulfil his promise of love. Told with frankness and doses of humor, this heartwarming tale of a boy and a girl who never gave up on their love in face of adversities, ends on a bittersweet and poignant note as Ajay comes to terms with the biggest lesson life has to offer.
"An absorbing tale of contrasts…Cherian tells the story with quiet strength." —San Francisco Chronicle Handsome anesthesiologist Neel is sure he can resist his family’s pleas that he marry a "good" Indian girl. With a girlfriend and a career back in San Francisco, the last thing Neel needs is an arranged marriage. But that’s precisely what he gets. His bride, Leila, a thirty-year-old teacher, comes with her own complications. They struggle to reconcile their own desires with others’ expectations in this story of two people, two countries, and two ways of life that may be more compatible than they seem.
She faced years of abuse after arriving in Canada as a teenage bride in a hastily arranged marriage, but nothing could stop Samra Zafar from pursuing her dreams At 15, Samra Zafar had big dreams for herself. She was going to go to university, and forge her own path. Then with almost no warning, those dreams were pulled away from her when she was suddenly married to a stranger at 17 and had to leave behind her family in Pakistan to move to Canada. Her new husband and his family promised that the marriage and the move would be a fulfillment of her dream, not a betrayal of it. But as the walls of their home slowly became a prison, Samra realized the promises were empty ones. In the years that followed she suffered her husband’s emotional and physical abuse that left her feeling isolated, humiliated and assaulted. Desperate to get out, and refusing to give up, she hatched an escape plan for herself and her two daughters. Somehow she found the strength to not only build a new future, but to walk away from her past, ignoring the pleas of her family and risking cultural isolation by divorcing her husband. But that end was only the beginning for Samra. Through her academic and career achievements, she has gone on to become a mentor and public speaker, connecting with people around the world from isolated women in situations similar to her own, to young schoolgirls in Kenya who never allowed themselves to dream to men making the decisions to save for their daughters’ educations instead of their dowries. A Good Wife tell her harrowing and inspiring story, following her from a young girl with big dreams, through finding strength in the face of oppression and then finally battling through to empowerment.
The brave and moving memoir of a woman's journey of transformation: from a sheltered Indian upbringing to success and academic eminence in America. Padma Desai grew up in the 1930s in the provincial world of Surat, India, where she had a sheltered and strict upbringing in a traditional Gujarati Anavil Brahmin family. Her academic brilliance won her a scholarship to Bombay University, where the first heady taste of freedom in the big city led to tragic consequences—seduction by a fellow student whom she was then compelled to marry. In a failed attempt to end this disastrous first marriage, she converted to Christianity. A scholarship to America in 1955 launched her on her long journey to liberation from the burdens and constraints of her life in India. With a growing self-awareness and transformation at many levels, she made a new life for herself, met and married the celebrated economist Jagdish Bhagwati, became a mother, and rose to academic eminence at Harvard and Columbia. How did she navigate the tumultuous road to assimilation in American society and culture? And what did she retain of her Indian upbringing in the process? This brave and moving memoir—written with a novelist's skill at evoking personalities, places, and atmosphere, and a scholar's insights into culture and society, community, and family—tells a compelling and thought-provoking human story that will resonate with readers everywhere.
Neel, an anesthesiologist in San Francisco, and Leila, a 30-year-old teacher in Neel's native India, struggle to reconcile their own desires with the expectations of others, in this riveting story of two people, two countries, and two ways of life.
Vikram, a successful first-generation Indian immigrant, invites three of his college friends to his son's graduation from MIT--an event where real life collides with unmet expectations.
A Lilly's Library Book Club Pick! “A sparkling debut.”—Emily Giffin, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author From a compelling new voice in women's fiction comes a mother-daughter story about three generations of women who struggle to define themselves as they pursue their dreams. Simran Mehta has always felt harshly judged by her mother, Nandini, especially when it comes to her little "writing hobby." But when a charismatic and highly respected journalist careens into Simran's life, she begins to question not only her future as a psychologist, but her engagement to her high school sweetheart. Nandini Mehta has strived to create an easy life for her children in America. From dealing with her husband's demanding family to the casual racism of her patients, everything Nandini has endured has been for her children's sake. It isn’t until an old colleague makes her a life-changing offer that Nandini realizes she's spent so much time focusing on being the Perfect Indian Woman, she’s let herself slip away. Mimi Kadakia failed her daughter, Nandini, in ways she'll never be able to fix—or forget. But with her granddaughter, she has the chance to be supportive and offer help when it's needed. As life begins to pull Nandini and Simran apart, Mimi is determined to be the bridge that keeps them connected, even as she carries her own secret burden.
Renuka Sharma is a dutiful wife, mother, and daughter-in-law holding the fort in a modest rental in Delhi while her husband tries to rack up savings in Dubai. Working as a receptionist and committed to finding a place for her family in the New Indian Dream of air-conditioned malls and high paid jobs at multi-nationals, life is going as planned until the day she strikes up a conversation with an uncommonly self-possessed stranger at a Metro station. Because while Mrs Sharma may espouse traditional values, India is changing all around her, and it wouldn't be the end of the world if she came out of her shell a little, would it? With equal doses of humour and pathos, The Private Life of Mrs Sharma is a sharp-eyed examination of the clashing of tradition and modernity, from a dramatic new voice in Indian fiction.
Most of us normal people will have serious issues if our spouses slept with other people. For many, such things are alluring but when they actually try it, one or the other can't handle it and it takes a long time to recover. The primary reason people stay together is because they love and want each other, not others. When you introduce another, this no longer holds true and the fall out is inevitable. My beloved wife Mahima is the story of a married couple Rajesh and Mahima. Rajesh is sending conflicting signals to his young wife Mahima. Unknowingly pushing her closer to that threshold of their marriage wherein for her own pleasure she is tempted cross the line. It seems circumstances will push her across the line with or preferably without Rajesh's approval or knowledge. Is Mahima going to like it so much that she go for another taste and becomes enthralled by the experience since Rajesh can't give her that kind of pleasure. The wild ride of voyeuristic indulgence by a confused and perverted Rajesh and his beautiful wife Mahima who is equally confused by these crazy games he insists on playing despite knowing that he really can't and wouldn't be able to handle the consequences if temptation and a strong, dominant man like Karan takes control of her. Karan is a big guy, muscular, Greek God, runs a gym, so obviously a lot of women will be interested in him. But women don't just want muscles and after a time they move on, except for his wife Neha who seemed to have clicked with him. How many other women has he had during his marriage? With two kids to look after Neha is a typical Mum. So, Karan looks for glamour pusses while she looks after the kids. As they say the grass is always greener on the other side... and Rajesh is forcing his wife Mahima to go and taste it. With a guy like Karan, well-built and good looking, wifeless with kid, all her motherliness in helping him will easily lead to his cock. Rajesh's fantasies end up frustrating her and Karan will provide what she needs. Then bye bye dear hubby. You can only enjoy so much in wifey voyeurism and when you need a real fuck, she's not going to be interested because he wasn't man enough to keep her properly fucked up... only interested in getting other guys to heat her up. Rajesh has ended up making her lust after other men and in sexual pleasure there is no turning back. He only wanted to see her fucked by other men (including Karan of course since he became super-heated when Mahima told him the episode), not end up being a wife substitute to Karan. And the humiliation and mockery will probably start.
"In India, there are 650 million people under the age of 35. These are men and women who grew up with the Internet, and the advent of smartphones and social media. But when it comes to love and marriage, they're expected to adhere to thousands of years of tradition. It's that tension between obeying tradition and accepting modernity that drives journalist Mansi Choksi's [book]"--
