Those Days of Distress (A Novel)

Written with the background of the corona virus, Covid-19 and its variants, the novel tells the story of a conservative father and his two daughters, keeping the pandemic days as a foil to their domestic events. The novel corona-virus gave days of distress to the world. The spread of Covid-19 turned the whole world upside down; the busy life of the teeming millions suddenly came to a standstill following Lockdown and quarantine. Silence overcame the politicians; preachers proclaimed the rite of silent fasting; economic recession controlled the economy; religions stopped to be the 'opium' of the people. Disease, despair and death became the order of the day. Hundreds and thousands fell down dead like maple leaves in the autumn season. In utter helplessness and loneliness, the people stood confused in between Science and God, as both failed to find a solution to the pandemic. The pandemic taught them to worship God without any religious rites and rituals. As the severity of the pandemic reduced, people began to return to their discarded habits. The epistolary technique of this agnostic novel makes the story highly realistic.