/UCWE/ - Jewel-less Crown-Saga of Life, opens as - the nouveau riche of New Delhi seemed to gather at the 'Misty Nest' that New Year Eve. While women wore designer wear, men seemed to prefer the safari suits. Hosting them at their mansion in the Defence Colony were the Gautams, Prabhu and Sneha.

By the time the last guest was welcome hugged, Gautam's tweed suit and Sneha's mink coat were well crumpled. While the Scotch on the rocks soared the spirits of all, the women in the arena whetted the appetite of the oglers. Above all, Gautam's good-humoured banter and Sneha's sensuous charm lent aura to that midnight proceedings. However, at the dead of the night, the ribaldry reached the crescendo when the chandeliers were switched off. In time, as though to fold out the year on hand, the radium hands of the huge antique clock were on the verge of converging on XII. At that, when the Gautams goaded everyone to raise their hands to welcome the year in the offing, some even struggled to get on to their feet.

Nevertheless, the clock welcomed the incoming year with the first of its twelve chimes that reverberated in that sprawling banquet hall. Amidst the darkness then, the euphoria that followed led to a fresh round of bear hugs amongst the sexes. When the chandeliers came aglow all again, as though to show them the reality of life, revelry seemed to have given way to sanity in that translucent setting. It was only time before the pangs of hunger made all scamper for the buffet of varied cuisines brought from the five-star restaurants.

At length, as Gautam went up to the table to pick up his plate, he was called by the steward to attend to a telephone call. Seeing him turn pale soon enough, Sneha went up to him in apprehension. When Gautam, in undertone, made her privy to their tragedy, she nearly swooned into his arms. The news that Suresh Prabhu, their son, was in the lock-up, booked for rape and murder, ravaged her soul.”

What follows in Book I,Artha and Kama,is a fascinating saga of conflict and resolution arising out of ambition and achievement, intrigue and betrayal, compulsion and compromise, sleaze and scandal, trial and sentence, and regret and remorse.

Book II,Dharma and Moksha, portrays the possibilities of life through repentance and recompense, hope and love and compassion and contribution, leading to the spirituality of materialism.

'You know the role money played in the downfall of our family,' Suresh began as they went back into their room, 'while I served the sentence, I thought long and hard about it. In time, I realized that it's the character of money to corrupt the ardent, tease the vacillating and curse the disinterested. That way there seems to be no escape for man from money. You're damned if you have it and equally damned for the lack of it.'

'Money is best in its moderation, isn't it?' Vidya said as though to convert him to her point of view.

'Make money the measure, and you are in for trouble, for that would keep you in its grip forever,' he said taking her into his arms, 'what is extravagant today may be moderate tomorrow and what is moderate today may be meager by the morrow.'

'How to go about it then?' she seemed puzzled.

'One should try to demystify money to see what really it is worth. Well the accumulated millions of a miser add up to zero, likewise, the crores with a spendthrift will not add up to much. Thus, money has no value of its own, in spite of the awe in which man holds it. As for the power of wealth, it's only in the mind, of the haves and the have-nots alike.'

Jaico Book House is distributing this Self Imprint edition in India

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BS Murthy
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