A Goddess named Gold

Author: Bhabani Bhattacharya
Publisher: Orient Paperbacks
(Pp 320, ISBN 978122294605, Rs 240)

A modern fable of rural India, A Goddess named Gold is narrated against the backdrop of freedom struggle. It is a masterly satire on those who live by the lure of gold. There’s a pretty girl named Meera who is poverty-struck, whose grandfather is a minster. The grandfather gives her a touchstone, which is believed to turn copper into gold, provided she acts kindly as a natural and spontaneous expression of herself. Then there’s a Seth, a rich person, who wants to own that touchstone. And one point of time, Meera is ready to trade it – all for a bottle of oil.

The book describes rural India in a picturesque manner. The characters look real, the instances also look real. The book is entertaining yet makes you think about the problems in villages and how difficult it is for a poor man to survive in this world.

The author Bhabani Bhattacharya is Sahitya Akademi award winning author and a remarkable feature of his writings is its purposeful thrust and social relevance in all times.