Dancing with Kali

Goa, land of sun, surf and sand, of secluded coves, and of forested hills, where foreigners frolic on the beaches without restraint and where, in the Hindu villages just a few kilometres inland, repressive traditions still rule. And when the boundary between the two is crossed, the consequences can be unpredictable. There in Goa, while roaming the beaches with a band of hippies, Alec, an up-and-coming English lawyer, meets Anu, the daughter of a prominent Hindu landowner, who is yearning for the freedom of choice. Their marriage sets in motion a chain of events that culminates eighteen years later when Ronnie comes to Goa to visit the beach where his mother was lost in the sea and meets Meera, a young girl – whose mother is also dead – living with her grandparents; all three of whom are being ostracised by the community. And watching over them is Maushi—Anu’s mother and Meera’s grandmother. An intricately woven saga of love, revenge, and retribution, the book resonates with the ethos of karma —the eternally intertwined dance of destruction and creation, the dance of Kali, who wipes out karma and fulfils the desires of her devotees. Weaving in Hindu and Christian philosophies, Goan and hippie cultures, the modalities of Western urban gentry and the Indian rural structure, the lucid narrative skillfully juxtaposes human emotions—tribulations with failures; empathy with apathy; vengeance with resurrection—celebrating the poise and strength of womanhood.