‘Historical aspect of the story creates nostalgia in the minds of many who suffered that part of history. Yet, all aspects of it are relatable even today.’: Kamal Gill on penning Madam Mohini.
‘The novel evokes a plethora of emotions… suspense, romance, passion, horror, tragedy, love. The journey of the protagonist from being separated from her parents at the age of eight to becoming a cabinet minister in the legislative assembly is awe-inspiring,’ the author said.
Kamal Gill, the author of Madam Mohini: A novel, was born and brought up in the royal city of Patiala and works as a bureaucrat in Haryana. Madam Mohini is a story of a girl, whose life gets shattered at a tender age when she is separated from her mother. She grows up in the lap of turbulence while circumstances keep on pushing her from one place to another. She is in New Delhi at the time of the 1984 Sikh riots. Yet, somehow, she survives those horrible times, the memories get etched in her mind and they never stop haunting her. When she realizes that this world seeped in violence, prejudice, and hypocrisy, is too messy for justice to prevail, she decides to put emotions on the back burner. Her simmering rage finds expression in cruelty that astonishes even her own self. Yet, an undying yearning for the warmth of her mother’s hug keeps her perpetually restless. The initial tones of the novel are set by the prevalence of Militancy, operation blue star, the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, and the subsequent riots. As the story unfolds, the reader will feel the external storm settling down but the internal turmoil continues.
The author held up the mirror to the pretentious political and social systems and created a gripping story that invokes strong pathos. The book reflects Gill’s deep understanding of human conditions, political expediency, engineering of riots, social discrimination, and religious co-efficient of politics. Presented largely in form of linear narration, the book is simply unputdownable. The intriguing suspense keeps the reader hooked to the story till the last word.
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