About the book
Do you know what you really are?
Or has life not tested you yet!
8 stories
8 situations
8 emotions
Lata is quintessential Indian housewife. How come her blissful life got disturbed by all but a gentle sermon?
The handsome Piyush had the world at his feet and yet his world was empty!
Meera, an IAS officer, was living her dream but why wasn’t she happy?
Centuries ago, Ila the Playwright, found happiness in pursuing her passion but why was this a bane to many?
What happens when your subconscious tries to pass on a message?
Hurt and pain helped Madhav become a millionaire. How would be come to terms when he realizes that it was not him that was wronged but it was he who was wrong.
Meera is a budding comedian, but a great tragedy befalls her. Would she be able to hold her own in adverse circumstances?
Kapil found liberation in his quest for knowledge, but would his daughter follow his lead ?
Explore Greed (via Manifestation of God), Unspoken words (via The Last Confession), Internal Conflict (via The Lost Meera), Self-Belief (via The Mysterious Playwright), Subconscious-self (via Three of Him), Love (via Madhav and Meera), Jealousy (via The Comic’s Tragedy) and Freedom (via Life goes in a circle).
About the Author
“An architect by education, software engineer by profession and a writer by choice.” Charu is an IIT graduate and an award winning blogger. She is based out of Gurgaon.
Life is perhaps one of the most complex things of all. While some might agree, some might also deny it stating that in fact it is one of the most simplest things of all. It is we who tend to complicate it with our expectations riding so high.
Charu Vashishtha Gulati's debut anthology The Lady in the Mirror brings out this delicious ambiguity exceptionally well in her stories. Her stories talk about love, hope, despair, desire, dreams and lot of other emotions we go through every moment of our lives. This book can easily be called the roller coaster of emotions.
For a debutant, Gulati has done a brilliant job at bringing together those emotions in the form of stories and tried conveying a strong message through it all. Picking up instances from our day to life, she makes through experiences surreal by adding her observations to it. What is charming is the way she sees life. At times it is the apathy of life and at times the sheer beauty of it that charms you while reading the book.
There is a certain honesty that reflects in her writing which is clearly visible till the last page. The stories are straight from the heart, with messages that are bound to touch you. Rather than calling them messages, it would be right to call them reminders. In an age when we all are so busy and occupied in life, such reminders are the need of the hour to tell us how much of it all are we taking for granted in life. This book with its stories is one such reminder.
The characters are extension of ourselves. Real, vulnerable and affable they are endearing. On close observation you might find someone you know in those characters. The locales of the story have a huge role to play in the narrative and they bring out a different character of their own. Adding textures and layers of emotions, Gulati makes some of the most simple things look grand on her canvas.
However, the editing of the book could have been a bit better. There were a lot of editing lapses which acted as a huge turn off to read this book. Moreover the stories might feel simple to certain readers.
Having said all of the above, would still recommend this book for its sheer simplicity and ability to make you smile through the stories.