A2Z April Challenge 2019: Q for QUIRKY SAMRAT

Samrat is a private detective who walks in and out of some of my books and Quirky is a description that fits him well.

I was extremely impressed by a detective I read about in one of Agatha Christie’s books (no, I am not talking about Poirot) and that character kind of got imprinted in my brain. 

Samrat is not the Quirky detective's real name. Read on to know all about it. 

A glimpse into the Quirky Samrat…

In the meanwhile, they contacted Samrat, the private detective highly recommended by the twins’ friend. Ram thought that a name like Samrat sounded fraudulent, but Bharat’s friend had insisted that the man was a genius. 

Both the brothers were rather skeptical when Samrat agreed to meet them immediately. From what they knew about the man, he worked on his own and sometimes hired a couple of guys as freelancers. How could he be free the moment they contacted him? Not left with much of a choice, they invited the detective over to their hotel at 7 pm. 

Samrat arrived a few minutes before time and the receptionist called their room at five minutes to seven to announce his arrival. Lakshman looked at Ram askance before requesting the receptionist to send their guest up. 

The man who entered their room appeared nothing like a sleuth. Their idea of one was that he would be tall and muscular, strong and fit enough to combat bad guys. But this man standing in front of them was thin and nondescript. Would he be suited for the kind of work they had in mind for him? ‘Well, procrastinating will get us nowhere,’ decided Ram before offering their guest a seat. Well manners prompted Lakshman to provide Samrat with a glass of water before they spoke to him.

After the introductions, Ram said, “Actually Mr. Samrat, this case might be a bit complicated as it’s being opened after fourteen years. By the way, is Samrat your first name or last?” he asked, not able to control himself.

“It’s neither, Mr. Maheshwari. The name my parents gave me is Rajesh and my surname is Khanna. Can you imagine anyone taking me seriously if I announce myself as Rajesh Khanna? The first couple of ventures that I tried to pick up fell apart just because of this. That’s when I coined this name for myself. Samrat seems to work well with everyone.” The visitor’s face was serious once again.

I introduced Samrat in The Runaway Bridegroom. Later, he insisted on walking into An Autograph for Anjali, Simha International, and then again in Tied in Knots. 

Quirky Samrat is good with lists and is meticulous when he sets out to check facts. While people are amazed that he’s ready to follow up on the predictions of an astrologer, he has no qualms about it. The fact is that there’s not much else to work on in that particular case when Samrat sets out to search for The Runaway Bridegroom, Veerendra Singh Choudhary. 

Quirky Samrat is the one who traces Jayant’s murderer in An Autograph for Anjali. He understands people, he knows how to press the right button to get the answers he needs.

Quirky Samrat helps Rohit of Simha International, not once, but twice in the book. I think I will leave it to you to read the book to find out more.

Quirky Samrat assists Rajvardhan Thakore of Tied in Knots to put a case together against Raja Harischandra Gajanan. 

I am sure Samrat is going to be a part of many more of my books in the future. 

A2Z April Challenge 2019: P for Mr. PERFECT

What do I mean by Mr. Perfect?

Dictionary meaning of Perfect: having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.

“As good as it’s possible to be” is what I mean when I call Aarav Chopra Mr. Perfect. Aarav has been in love with Saloni since she was seventeen. Son of her grandfather’s car driver, he believes she’s unreachable. But seeing how good he is at his studies, the said grandfather sponsors his higher education in the USA.

After doing exceedingly well in the USA, Aarav returns home, hoping to make Saloni his girlfriend. Only to be shocked when he finds out that she’s engaged to be married. 

Heartbroken, Aarav returns to America and works really hard before setting up the Chopra chain of businesses back in Delhi.

When Saloni runs away from her husband, along with her baby son, Mitesh, Aarav is waiting to catch her back. He’s careful enough not to step into her space as that’s what Saloni needs right now.

It doesn’t really matter to Aarav if Saloni wants to marry him or not. All he offers is his support and anything else she wants/needs. He’s there for her, always.

And that’s why Aarav Chopra deserves to be called Mr. Perfect.

After the terrible experience she’s had with her marriage to Dr. Manish Chawla in Chicago, will Saloni allow another man to become her life partner? You will have to read my romance novel Mr. Perfect to find out.

A sneak peek into Mr. Perfect…

It was barely 6.30 in the morning. Aarav jogged more than usual the morning after Ruma’s wedding, sweat pouring down his face as he pounded his way around the jogging track in the building complex he lived in at Gurgaon, his mind working furiously. Going to the Malhotra residence had been the first mistake. Connecting with Saloni’s infant son had been the second one. Falling all over in love again with...

Aarav stopped suddenly, bending down as his breath came out in gasps, his hands pressed to his knees. He never got breathless while jogging, like never. Damn it all the hell! He had believed that he was home safe after pushing the thoughts of Saloni deep within the recesses of his mind. It had taken but one eye contact to rekindle the raw feelings that he still nurtured for her. His mother had stopped asking him to get married once he made it clear that he didn’t want to take the responsibility of making another woman unhappy as he couldn’t love anyone after Saloni.

Saloni! Aarav straightened up, a small smile on his face as he wiped his face and neck with a hand towel and drank deeply from the bottle of water that he had placed on a bench on the side of the track.

Also...

P for HER PRINCE CHARMING

(Available in Paperback only in India)

A2Z April Challenge 2019: O for OBJECTIONABLE SHIKHA

I introduced Shikha in the guise of a vamp in my book The Runaway Bridegroom. She’s a powerful character and is as objectionable as one can get. She drinks, smokes, swears loudly and is bitchy into the bargain. More than all that, she wants to marry a rich guy and settle down for good. She's so objectionable that some beta readers and an editor told me that I should do away with this one as she was getting more than her share of the limelight as a secondary character.

But somehow, Shikha refused to let go of me. She insisted on remaining in my book, grabbing a number of scenes and sequences.

And till date, I have never regretted the decision to let her do what she wanted. The best part is that I could create a separate novel for Objectionable Shikha called His Drunken Wife as she wanted her story told. 

Yeah, that way I listen to my characters and go with the flow as they demand for space in my books. I feel that makes writing more of a joy to me, letting imaginary people tell their tales to their satisfaction, through me. 

About Objectionable Shikha…

Shikha was a few months over thirty-one and had worked hard throughout her life, always keeping her eye on the main chance. Her prime goal in life was to strike it rich by making the right marriage. She had moved around a few companies, working as a secretary trying to get the attention of her bosses. But it seemed that she always seemed to garner the wrong kind. All the men she had met so far had been ready to share her bed, but not her life. It never struck Shikha that those were the vibes she was emanating and that every man was only responding to it.

A2Z April Challenge 2019: N for Nitin

Nitin is exactly what Simran needs at that point in her life when her self-confidence is completely shattered. Simran has taken refuge in Nitin’s house in Mumbai only because his mother Nandita is Simran’s mother’s best friend.

Simran’s self-esteem has always teetered towards zero, all because of her father who treats her like a pariah because of her dark skin. 

But Nitin doesn’t see anything wrong with Simran at all, much to her astonishment. He’s attracted to her on first sight and is determined to bring her out of her shell. And the best part is that he doesn’t seek solutions in fairness creams. He finds her dusky skin perfect and encourages her to have a makeover that will bring out the inherent beauty in her that she had smothered behind clothes that cover her from neck to feet while her face is smeared with sunscreen 24/7. 

Simran, who has always been told by the man in her life—her father—how unattractive she is because of her dark skin, is amazed that Nitin finds her beautiful despite it. It goes a long way to boost her confidence and she literally flowers under his attention.

And that’s what makes Nitin my hero from Beauty is but Skin Deep, someone who falls for Simran exactly as she is, without conditions.  

A sneak peek into Nitin and Simran…

Nitin looked at her, his brown gaze bold as he studied her minutely. Clad in an off-white churidhar and a kurta of the same shade with chikan embroidery, she looked as cute as a bug. Her figure was perfectly shaped, long slender legs topped by a well-shaped torso. But beyond all that, he was attracted to her deep, dark eyes that mirrored her every thought. First, it had only been pain, then nervousness on confronting a stranger, surprise when she realised who he was and now a combination of wariness and shyness as she became aware of him as a man.

Fascinating! It was like watching a film—the whole gamut of expressions. He checked her out from head to toe and then the other way up, this time slower. Simran caught his coffee brown eyes lingering on some parts of her body and move faster over others more to save her from embarrassment than lack of interest on his part. She felt heat steal over her body as she sensed the blush that began from her toes, spreading over her body and finally hitting her face that seemed to be set aflame.

She bent her head, not sure she wanted him to see her in that state. Nitin moved forward and placing a hand under Simran’s chin, lifted her face to study it.

Simran closed her eyes tight, not able to meet the curious brown gaze. Her heart fluttered like a trapped bird, seeming to want to break away from her chest. Her lips quivered in anticipation of she knew not what as Nitin scrutinised her face thoroughly.

It was as if the movie screen had blacked out with her eyes closed. Her face was still while the windows to her soul were shut, except for her incredibly long eyelashes that fluttered as if she had no control over them. 

Also...

N for NARASIMHA

(Dashavatar #4)

A2Z April Challenge 2019: M for MAHARAJA INTERNATIONAL

Maharaja International is the third and final book in The Bansal Legacy trilogy that I have set around 5-star hotels run by the Bansal siblings, Rohit, Rhea and Ritvik.

Ritvik, the hero of this story, appears very young, carefree and fun-loving in the first two books. But he grows up to be a mature guy who takes on the responsibility of a single father to his little girl, Aarya, who he has fathered through surrogacy. also runs Maharaja International, a 5-star hotel he has set up in a heritage palace in Udaipur that used to belong to The Thakore Royals. 

Sia is from a small town and has literally clawed her way from poverty to become the manager of Cleopatra’s, the beauty salon at Ritvik’s hotel.

Sparks fly the moment they set eyes on each other…

Only Sia isn’t what she appears on the surface and has a load of backlog. Will Ritvik accept her for what Sia is or the man who has sworn off marriage (the reason why he had a child through surrogacy) dump her by the wayside? You will need to read my book to know more. 

As for research, I wrote this book after visiting the City Palace in Udaipur and also staying in a hotel on the banks of Lake Pichola. But the heritage hotel that I have portrayed in this story is completely from my imagination. Please don’t go looking for it when you visit Udaipur. 

I studied a number of books and journals to understand the workings of 5-star hotels and also had a special tour of The Orchid, Mumbai, organized by a friend, to understand the running of the hotel from top to bottom. 

A glimpse into my novel…

“By the way, I’m Ritvik Bansal.”

Sia’s mouth opened wide in an O. The client was none other than the owner of this popular heritage hotel set in the middle of the Udai Sagar Lake, in the heart of Udaipur. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir,” she said, awe in her voice. He appeared so young. From what she had heard, he had built the hotel from scratch, renovating the rundown heritage property to the classy structure it was today. 

Ritvik tilted his head in acknowledgement before saying, “Okay Sia. What I need is a trim, just my beard and sideburns. Do you think you can manage that?” The smile had disappeared and he was suddenly all business. “And I’m in a hurry.”

“But of course sir. Please take a seat.” Sia pointed to one of the plush chairs in front of the mirrored wall. It looked as if her desire was going to be fulfilled almost immediately, that of having a go at shaping his beard. With a smile on her face, Sia brought out a hair cutting cape and opened it with a flick of her wrists before wrapping it around his wide shoulders, snapping the single button closed at the back of his neck. 

Ritvik watched her brief and efficient movements in the mirror, his eyes keen. Sia was not conventionally beautiful, her nose short and tip-tilted while her lips were a bit too generous and wide. Her smoky grey eyes that appeared almost silver were her most striking feature. She was busty with wide hips while her waist was small and her legs pretty long. Ritvik judged her to be about 5’7” tall. She was dressed in black formal trousers and a white shirt. The red apron that she wore bore the stylish profile of a crowned and bejewelled king—the hotel’s emblem—in its centre. He couldn’t but agree that the entire package was extremely attractive.

Sia took out an electronic beard trimmer and ran it efficiently over Ritvik’s thick beard, from one end to the other, trimming away the excess with a minimum of fuss. Then she took out a pair of small scissors and comb from the pocket in her apron and shaped his sideburns to perfection. She quickly dusted the hair off his cheeks and shoulders before removing his cape. “Is that fine Mr. Bansal?” She had a tough time keeping her eyes free of expression. He looked even more delectable than before. 

“It’s perfect Sia. Thanks!” He got up and left abruptly, with a wave of his hand, leaving Sia to tend to her grumbling heart. 

Also... 

M for MEGHNA

M for MATSYA 

Dashavatar #1

M for MADEINHEAVEN.COM 

Romantic Shorts #3

M for THE MALHOTRA BRIDE

M for MAN FRIDAY

Upcoming novel...

A2Z April Challenge 2019: L for LEO’S DESIRE

Leo’s Desire is the second book in my Written in the Stars series. This novel follows the romance between Nishaan (Leo) and Chaahat (Aries), another star combo that I found fascinating when I read Linda Goodman’s book, Love Signs.

  

There’s also another reason for the title I gave this book. Chaahat in Hindi means Desire. And that’s how my book became Leo’s Desire. 

A Leo, especially a man, insists on being a know-it-all. And believe me when I say that Nishaan (AKA Shaan, a character I introduced in my book Finding Anya) truly believes he knows best (well, he could be right too). So much so that the Aries heroine gets thoroughly pissed off by his attitude. Throw into this mix a long-distance relationship and a lot of interference from their respective mothers, and you have an explosive romance with a lot of steamy sex.

Another thing I brought into this book is an Ayurvedic Health Farm. I generally let my protags have different careers (other than the doctors and engineers of our world) and I also try to bring to light real life solutions for health issues where possible. 

In this book, Chaahat has an issue with weight reduction and becomes a starving chain smoker to lose excess weight in a rush, unaware of the repercussions on her health. I will let you read my book to know more, of course.

For research, I visited KARE Ayurveda and Yoga Retreat, Mulshi, Maharashtra and spent a day there to understand the benefits of this alternate therapy for a healthy lifestyle that will also help one maintain one’s ideal weight. 

A glimpse into my protags…

“Aren’t you going to offer me a smoke?” Shaan asked, a mischievous smile on his face. He had smoked for a few months while in college, had decided that it wasn’t to his taste and had given up the habit for good. 

Chaahat covered her packet protectively and said, “Nope.”

Laughing, he took the cigarette from her hand and puffed on it, looking deeply into her eyes, keen to provoke her.

“You bastard! I...”

Shaan placed the cigarette between her lips, effectively stopping her words. “That’s the second time you have called me that,” he said mildly, “I don’t think my parents will take kindly to it.”

“Screw you!” Chaahat declared vehemently, taking the cigarette from her mouth. 

“Now that’s an offer I truly appreciate. I’m game.” There was laughter in Shaan’s voice as he continued to look into Chaahat’s eyes boldly. 

It took Chaahat a couple of seconds to grasp what he meant before colour flared up on her thin cheeks. “I think you’re going to die at my hands,” she swore, flinging the cigarette butt out of the window, her whole body taut with violence. 

“What a way to die!” He reached with both hands on her shoulders, pulling her resisting body relentlessly towards his chest. “Chaahat...” he whispered in her ear, “you are as desirable as your name.” He pressed his mouth to the wildly beating pulse at her neck, running the tip of his tongue back and forth against it as he breathed in deeply of her unique perfume.

A2Z April Challenge 2019: K for Krish

Krish is suave, smart, handsome and highly educated. After studying and working in the USA, he shifts to Mumbai since he’s been missing India badly. While being chased by eager mamas of young women, Krish isn’t interested in getting married, until he meets Nikita.

It was love at first sight for Krish as he had fallen for Nikita, body, mind and soul. 

They get along like a house on fire from the beginning…

…until Krish makes the mistake of sending a marriage proposal through his parents to hers. At twenty-eight, he thinks it’s not right to talk of marriage directly to twenty-one-year-old Nikita. But she gets furious and tells him to get lost.

Krish is heartbroken, but abides by her wish and stays away…

…until she goes back to meet him with a proposal—A marriage of convenience where they would be married in name only.

Ready to grab at any crumb that comes his way, Krish agrees immediately. But then, even he hadn’t imagined the frustration he feels as he watches his reluctant bride sleeping peacefully night after night while he watches on like a voyeur. 

And that’s when Krish comes up with an idea…

I’ll let you read my book The Reluctant Bride to find out more about Krish and his bride. 

A2Z April Challenge 2019: J for Jamie

How was Jamie born of my imagination?

When I began visualizing Rose Garden International, it was after a holiday in Ooty. I couldn’t help admiring the influence of the British Raj on the hill-station. Having always dreamed of writing historical romances, I thought to myself, ‘Why not introduce a bit of history into this story?’ 

And that’s how Jamie’s grandparents settled in Ooty a few years before India attained independence. The couple fall in love with the hill-station and build a house there along with a clock tower, the clock imported all the way from England. 

Jamie Scott, from Australia, has always been fascinated with Ooty in South India, having heard about it a lot from his grandmother Barbara and reading her diaries from the 1940s. Suddenly bored of his sedentary life in Alice Springs, he decides to take a break and visit Ooty.

I would say it’s the call of Destiny! How else would he meet Rhea Bansal, the woman he falls in love with? 

And that’s how Jamie Scott, an Australian from Alice Springs, became the hero of my book Rose Garden International, Book #2 of The Bansal Legacy series. 

Read the book to know more about not just the love story of Jamie and Rhea, but also how Jamie falls in love with Ooty, the same way that his grandparents fell in love with the hill-station almost eight decades ago. 

An excerpt on J for Jamie…

November 17, 1944

Dear Diary,

Our house is ready and we plan to move into it tomorrow morning. Sigh! Rose Garden is the most beautiful structure, probably because of the love Jason has poured into every single brick that went into its construction. 

Why such a prosaic name for our house? All I can say is that the first time we went to check the land for this property, I could see roses growing rampantly there, all having been planted by the English people who had decided to make Ooty their holiday home. It so reminded me of the English countryside. I couldn’t think of a more apt name for our home other than Rose Garden. Well, that my mother’s name was Rose also helped me make this decision. 

I am not sure whether the others will be able to relate to it, but I see a glow surrounding our home whenever I look at it in the morning sunlight. There’s a living area on the ground floor—a central hall with two wings on the left and right. The left wing has the kitchen and dining area, while the right wing houses the library that gets the most of the morning sunshine. I cannot imagine living anywhere else in the world. 

And oh yes! Jason and I are expecting our bundle of joy soon. The doctor confirmed that I am pregnant with my first child, to be born sometime in the June of next year. Life cannot get better than this, I am sure...

*****

Jamie paused, his mind going inward. Barbara and Jason Scott had left Ooty in the February of 1947, a little more than two years from this diary entry, along with Baby Nathan, who had been about a year and a half old. They had decided to move to Australia as there had been talks of India getting its independence from being a British colony. 

“Did you never think of going back to Ooty, Granny?” Jamie was nine when he had asked Barbara that. 

“No darling. My heart overflows with the memories of my time there with your grandpa. With him passing on, I somehow never felt the urge to go back there.” Jason Scott had died twenty years ago. “Maybe you would like to visit Ooty sometime. I know you’ll love the place.”

His grandmother had died a year later, but the thought had been seeded in young Jamie’s mind. While living the busy life of a student and later when he built his career, her stories had been pushed to the back of his mind. But she had left him her diaries. And recently, after moving to Alice Springs, Jamie had taken to reading Barbara’s diaries off and on. He fingered the one dated 1946. He never found the diary of 1945. Barbara had been unable to locate it. “I’m not sure child,” she had laughed. “I didn’t even know that these were lying in the bottom of the trunk that we brought on Michelle, the ship that we travelled on from Madras port in India to Port Darwin in Australia.”

Jamie looked at his computer screen now, frowning at the projects that were waiting for him. And then he looked at his grandmother’s diaries lying on his lap. What should he do?

A sudden smile lit Jamie’s rugged face. The call of Ooty was too powerful. He had just one life to live. Might as well live his dream along with his grandmother’s wishes!

When he found a hotel by the name of Rose Garden International, Jamie didn’t think twice before booking a cottage for his stay. Jamie promised to take just ten days off to check his grandmother’s favourite place before he got back to his regular life.  

A2Z April Challenge 2019: H for Hyma Devi, the Rani of Bhatewar

Parents generally shower their love on their kids, sometimes even to the point of smothering them. Many a time, they feel they know way better than their kids only because they are older and wiser. But that need not be true always.

One such mother is Hyma Devi, the Rani of Bhatewar. Her only offspring and daughter, Princess Yashodhara Jadeja, becomes a tarnished princess all thanks to her mother.

While Yashodhara has suffered abuse at someone’s hands, it’s Hyma Devi who tells her daughter that she should never speak about her trauma, not to a living soul. And why is that? All because Hyma Devi believes that it would bring shame on their royal name.

Haven’t we come across such parents in our lives? How they live their lives only for the society? I have based Rani Hyma Devi’s character on such people. While Hyma Devi loves her daughter more than anything else in the world, she makes a terrible error of judgement which causes her daughter endless agony.

Read my book The Marriage Predicament, Book #1 of The Thakore Royals series to know more about Rani Hyma Devi and her daughter. 

And it’s a romance, of course. You will get to know more about the hero, Prince Indrajeet Thakore when I publish the blog for the alphabet ‘I’ tomorrow. 

A2Z April Challenge 2019: G for Groomnapped, Book #1 of The Groom Series Trilogy

I am proud to say that I coined the word “Groomnapped” as the title for my short story which I later on developed into a novella by the same name.

Groomnapped revolves around groom kidnapping that’s kind of common in Bihar, India and probably a few other neighbouring states.

Even parents of rich young men demand for hefty dowries in this part of the country. And rarely are the parents of middle-class young women able to afford it. That’s when someone came up with the idea of kidnapping would-be grooms and forcing them to marry their daughter at gunpoint, sometimes in the middle of the night. I was amazed/shocked/astounded when I heard it for the first time from a colleague from Web18 (the internet arm of Network18), when I worked with them between 2007-2009. On searching Google, I found out that these instances were not all that rare. And I simply had to weave a story around the same.

Thus, Groomnapped was born—the story of the feisty Surekha from the wrong side of the tracks and the handsome and smart Ameya, son of a millionaire farmer-cum-builder. 

An excerpt from the book:

GROOM FORCED TO WED BRIDE AT GUNPOINT

He had heard vague stories about such incidences, but this was the first time it had made it to the headlines of a mainstream newspaper.

“Ameya ki amma, come here fast,” he called out to his wife Daksha.

Daksha came rushing out from the direction of the kitchen, as fast as she could move, considering her bulky frame. “Kaa hua Ameya ke bapu? Kyon chilla rahe ho?”

“Just see what the newspaper has to say. They…”

“Tch. As if I can read the newspaper. So, why don’t you tell me what’s written there?” Daksha sat down on an adjacent sofa, sipping her tea from a stainless-steel tumbler that reflected her plump face on its surface.

“This man wanted to get a rich bridegroom for his ugly daughter.” Jagjivan looked up from the paper to check if his wife was listening to him. After confirming that, he turned to read the details even as he explained the article to his wife in Bhojpuri. “The girl is short and dark. No one was ready to wed her as her father had only a small dowry to offer for her.” He paused before adding his own commentary. “But then, which honour-bound family will agree to accept such a girl for their daughter-in-law, that too if her father can’t afford to give a large dowry? Don’t really know what the world is coming to nowadays.” 

Daksha nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

Jagjivan turned his attention back to the news article as he continued, “The girl had met this rich boy at one of the weddings and liked him on sight.” He looked again at his wife, pulling his reading glasses down his hawk-like nose, saying, “And why wouldn’t she like him? See this picture,” he showed her the picture of a handsome-looking boy that the newspaper had published. 

“Haanji. The boy is very good-looking indeed. Are there more pictures?” Daksha was curious to know.

“No, nothing of the girl anyway. But then why would they want to publish ugly pictures?” Jagjivan asked rhetorically before getting back to the article. “The girl’s parents had approached the boy’s parents to ask for his hand in marriage. The boy’s parents asked for a hundred tola of gold, a Volkswagen Vento car, fifty lakh rupees cash, along with a grand marriage ceremony and reception at a 5-star hotel.” He lifted his head to add his comment, “But that’s only right, isn’t it? The boy is educated and good-looking. They could have asked for more actually.”

Daksha couldn’t help but agree. “You are right. Take our own Ameya. He’s so handsome and is also educated.” A wide smile broke out on her face as she thought of their son who was in his final year of studies at Delhi University, completing his degree in farming. “We would want a huge dowry too, even if the girl is as beautiful as an apsara.”

It was Jagjivan’s turn to nod his head. “You are absolutely correct, Ameya ki amma.”

“So, what happened to the girl and boy? What are the newspaper people saying?” Daksha wanted to know how the story had ended.

“The girl’s father toh bahut kamina nikhala. You know what the rogue has done? He hired some goons and had the groom kidnapped and brought to their home in the middle of the night. Then, at gunpoint, he forced the boy to marry his daughter. Can you imagine that?” It felt good to note the shocked expression on his wife’s face as the news he had shared had made her speechless with horror. “He even managed to get a panditji to his house at that time of the night. There are no ethics left in this world anymore,” he cribbed. 

Obviously, Jagjivan Verma didn’t believe it was unethical to ask for a huge dowry for his son or any other boy in the world. And his wife couldn’t help but agree with him absolutely. 

“What will they do now? Have they arrested the girl’s father?” asked Daksha, anxious to know the whole story. She was steadily growing impatient with her husband who was dragging the whole thing out.

“How can they do that? The man has become the rich boy’s father-in-law. After all, we are tied up by our religious rituals. They have taken the saat phere, even if it was at gun point, with the panditji chanting all the right mantras. It would be a shame to the groom’s family too if the bride’s father went to jail.” Jagjivan’s sigh was frustrated as he became angry with all those families with daughters. “They should not be arrested but put in front of a firing squad,” he burst out suddenly. What if someone trapped his son in a similar manner? He got quite worried.

“You are right, Ameya ke bapu. Imagine if someone does this to our Ameya.” Daksha shuddered, her thoughts echoing exactly those of her husband’s. 

“I think we should warn Ameya not to fall into some such trap. Or better yet, let’s get him married as soon as he gets back home.” Jagjivan declared. 

Neither parent was aware how their morbid fascination with the groom kidnappings prevalent in Bihar was going to actually impact their lives. 

Well, Surekha is the eldest of three girls, her sisters being Radhika and Vaishali. Now, after telling Surekha’s story, how can I not tell the stories of her sisters? 

So, Groomnapped became the first book in The Groom Series.

Book #2 will be Gobsmacked, the story of Radhika, fierier and even more focussed than her elder sister; and Amit, a journalist from Mumbai.

Book #3 will revolve around Vaishali and is called Grounded. The meaning I have picked up for this title is ‘prohibited’. Watch out for these two books in 2019-2020.