Embers and Flames (A Novel)

Set in the 1980s, Embers and Flames revolves around Varun, a young college student who has been drawn into the vortex of the Gorkhaland Movement. He is passionate about the cause and believes Darjeeling is for his own people and needs to be separate to establish its identity. His associates now wield power; and the gun. His own life takes a dramatic turn when he sees his closest friend killed and he himself barely manages to escape with his life. His grandmother, his guardian, packs him off overnight with an old friend from New Zealand. Unable to accept what has happened, Varun is irresistibly drawn to the past and it is quite a while before he can come to terms with the strife he has left behind in India. Many years later, he is once again at a crossroads. Will he go back to the land that beckons? Or heed another call?