She Seeks: SHE

By Bose Creative Publishers

She Seeks

The stories in She Seeks essentially revolve around how humans have used their minds to navigate a complex world. The mind, in constant interaction with a dynamic environment, is perpetually seeking answers. Sometimes this takes the form of a yearning for or a desire to connect with the past—often termed as nostalgia. The journey down the memory lane can shed a light on a present predicament or a problem or lead to new self-realizations. In other situations, the mind works like a laser beam; honing in on an enigma or mystery with a singular objective of solving it. The mind prescribes what action is required to be taken in times of imminent danger or threats. Such actions can take the form of fight or flight, adrenalin-fueled adventures, or outmanoeuvring the adversary by deploying—to paraphrase the famous detective Hercule Poirot—one's 'gray cells.'
Women have relied on their minds—their best asset—to challenge the status quo of power, privilege, and corruption in society. The stories in this volume portray women using their minds in ingenious ways, often leveraging their experiences to address a situation. Munni Masi's morality tales crafted from family lore is meant to arouse the curiosity and imagination of young minds (The Summer House); while a chance meeting with a little girl in a park makes a middle-aged lady reconnect to her younger, happier and most authentic self (The Girl With the Mismatched Rubber Bands). Akriti and Suchishree both lean heavily on the past to find a way out of faltering relationships (Yesterday Once More; L'Ange Protecteur). But their tryst with nostalgia could not be more different. Asha's search for a simple family recipe from her home country leads to an unexpected yet heart-warming reve-lation about her great grandmother's entrepreneurial abilities (The Nostalgic Garden). A sophisticated urbanite's assumptions are challenged by a village detective who is determined to prove that she possesses clairvoyant powers (Mataji Knows Best). The story of the rescue of another city dweller from the clutches of bandits in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh is a jaw dropping thriller (Kidnapped). Two savvy women manage to outwit a corrupt business magnate and an obdurate bureaucrat by their sheer chutzpah (The Showdown and A Tale of Mystery and Intrigue). A teenager and a young woman take on the role of avenging angels in classic tales of good versus evil (The Purple Star and Godhuli). Then there are possibilities that lie beyond the realm of human consciousness. Radha, Sasha and Jezzie take enormous risks by immersing themselves in other worldly adventures in their single-minded quest for truth and love (Turiya; Yatra and The Other Her).

SHE Writers Group completes 5 years!

The She Writers Group believes in creative activism and has ~45 women of Indian origin from around the world. Coming from diverse professional backgrounds, these women have come together to write and give a creative platform to the female voice by publishing five books of short stories, and one of poetry.

Books published include: She Speaks (short stories, 2018), She Reflects (flash fiction, 2021), She Celebrates (short stories, 2021), Emotions in Rhythm (poems, 2021), and She Shines (short stories, 2022). With She Seeks (short stories, 2023) based on mystery and nostalgia; the She Writers group is celebrating their fifth anniversary!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bose Creative Publishers
• Release date: Feb 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9783907328354

Bose Creative Publishers

ACT India: Ms. Nilanjana Das, Director and Chairperson, who helped us structure this book, and came forward enthusiastically to discuss the book’s proposal at its initial stage, despite the lockdown challenges in India. Asha Zurich Foundation: Dr. Pratyush Das Kanungo, Project Lead and Coordinator for outreach activities, Dr. Rajdeep Deb, President of the organization; and Dr. Sampada Bodke, Project Lead, for supporting this project and coming forward to collaborate for this book. Humane Warriors: Dr. Naveen Shamsudhin and Dr. Rhythima Shinde, Founders, who were active during the Covid-19, with their Humane Warriors team supporting the daily wage workers across India. Despite a time-crunch they contributed to this book with their timely inputs. Protsaah – Handcrafted Peace: Ms. Saloni Duggal Sreshtha, Director, who was in India to meet her artisans and was unable to fly back to Zurich due to the lockdown for a long time, despite that she took the time to contribute to this book and raise awareness for the cause. Rice Mill Social Enterprise: Ms. Ruth Mumba, Director, and Abundance Foundation’s Co-Founder Dr. Deepa Pullanikkatil who came forward to contribute to this book with their newly found project in South Africa. Touching Heart: Ms. Helen Yi, Founder and Project Lead Ms. Sumona Das, who relentlessly worked on different projects and produced hundreds of facemasks herself to combat the pandemic in the USA; helped us get the Founder’s interview for this book. Ushthi Foundation: Ms. Olga Egli, PR and Fundraising Director, who contributed with her inputs, and contacted the Founder Mr. Kurt Bürki and the Executive Director Ms. Alessandra Grosse for the interview in this book; and Ms. Mirjam Hirzel, International Project Coordinator, for her valuable thoughts and inputs.

Book preview

Contents

SHE SEEKS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Kidnapped

A Tale of Mystery and Intrigue

The Showdown

The Other Her

Yatra        

Turiya

The Summer House

Godhuli              

Mataji Knows Best

The Purple Star

Yesterday Once More

The Nostalgic Garden

The Girl with Mismatched rubber bands

L’ange protecteur

AUTHORS’ PROFILE

SHE SEEKS

Copyright © 2023 by Bose Creative Publishers.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

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Social media: @bosecreativepublishers

Disclaimer: The publisher is not liable for any opinions expressed or facts mentioned in the book. The authors of the works of fiction in this book are solely responsible for them.

Book Layout © 2017 BookDesignTemplates.com

SHE Writers Group completes 5 years!

The She Writers Group believes in creative activism and has ~45 women of Indian origin from around the world. Coming from diverse professional backgrounds, these women have come together to write and give a creative platform to the female voice by publishing five books of short stories, and one of poetry.

Books published include: She Speaks (short stories, 2018), She Reflects (flash fiction, 2021), She Celebrates (short stories, 2021), Emotions in Rhythm (poems, 2021), and She Shines (short stories, 2022). With She Seeks (short stories, 2023) based on mystery and nostalgia; the She Writers group is celebrating their fifth anniversary!

Facebook Page: @SHE.Writersfb                                                        Instagram: @shewritersig

Youtube: http://bit.ly/SHE-Writings

Acknowledgements

Coordinators:

Jesleen Gill Papneja, US (Lead)

Vinita Godinho, Australia

Editors:

Teesta Ghosh, US (Lead)

Ashwathy Menon, India

Abhilasha Kumar, Switzerland

Ekta Sharma, Australia

Rejina Sadhu, Switzerland

Saleha Singh, Australia

Social Media:

Ashwathy Menon, India

Publishing:

Brindarica Bose, Switzerland

Thank you SHE Team for your collaboration!

Introduction

She Seeks is the fifth book of short stories in the ‘She’ series published by a group of fourteen women authors of Indian origin spread across the world. Hailing from different professional backgrounds, the SHE pro-ject’s main aim is to provide a creative platform for women’s voices and their reflections from daily lives. None of the authors come from a ‘purely literary’ background—and yet, as scientists, bankers, professors, engineers, managers and homemakers, they all have a story to share.

The first book of short stories, She Speaks, was published in 2019. The next book, She Celebrates (pub-lished 2020; relaunched in 2021) was a compilation of stories that drew on Indian festivals. Flash Fiction was the genre of choice in She Reflects (2021). She Shines (2022) showcased the struggle of women belonging to marginal groups. The stories in She Seeks essentially revolve around how humans have used their minds to navigate a complex world. The mind, in constant interaction with a dynamic environment, is perpetually seeking answers. Sometimes this takes the form of a yearning for or a desire to connect with the past—often termed as nostalgia. The journey down the memory lane can shed a light on a present predicament or a problem or lead to new self-realizations. In other situations, the mind works like a laser beam; honing in on an enigma or mystery with a singular objective of solving it. The mind prescribes what action is required to be taken in times of imminent danger or threats. Such actions can take the form of fight or flight, adrenalin-fueled adventures, or outmanoeuvring the adversary by deploying—to paraphrase the famous detective Hercule Poirot—one’s ‘gray cells.’

Women have relied on their minds—their best asset—to challenge the status quo of power, privilege, and corruption in society. The stories in this volume portray women using their minds in ingenious ways, often leveraging their experiences to address a situation. Munni Masi’s morality tales crafted from family lore is meant to arouse the curiosity and imagination of young minds (The Summer House); while a chance meeting with a little girl in a park makes a middle-aged lady reconnect to her younger, happier and most authentic self (The Girl With the Mismatched Rubber Bands). Akriti and Suchishree both lean heavily on the past to find a way out of faltering relationships (Yesterday Once More; L’Ange Protecteur). But their tryst with nostalgia could not be more different. Asha’s search for a simple family recipe from her home country leads to an unexpected yet heart-warming reve-lation about her great grandmother’s entrepreneurial abilities (The Nostalgic Garden). A sophisticated urbanite’s assumptions are challenged by a village detective who is determined to prove that she possesses clairvoyant powers (Mataji Knows Best). The story of the rescue of another city dweller from the clutches of bandits in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh is a jaw dropping thriller (Kidnapped). Two savvy women manage to outwit a corrupt business magnate and an obdurate bureaucrat by their sheer chutzpah (The Showdown and A Tale of Mystery and Intrigue). A teenager and a young woman take on the role of avenging angels in classic tales of good versus evil (The Purple Star and Godhuli). Then there are possibilities that lie beyond the realm of human consciousness. Radha, Sasha and Jezzie take enormous risks by immersing themselves in other worldly adventures in their single-minded quest for truth and love (Turiya; Yatra and The Other Her).

In the planning stage of this book, we had thought that the stories would be divided into two neat categories—mystery and nostalgia. But to our pleasant surprise we discovered that whereas some stories are purely nostalgia or mystery based; in others the elements of nostalgia, mystery and metaphysical experiences are blended seamlessly. The authors have understood nostalgia and mystery to mean many different things which has led to the creation of this variegated bouquet of short stories. Our hope, dear reader, is that you will connect with a character or moment in these stories for an enjoyable and thought-provoking experience. 

2023 is a banner year for the SHE platform. This is the fifth year of our collaborative effort to publish sto-ries that shed a spotlight on the gendered experience. Over these five years, we have had our share of cha-llenges, but we have grown and learned as we have come into our own. We are very mindful of what our readers have wanted to read. Therefore, our effort has constantly been to keep our content fresh and interesting. We attempt to bring on board authors who are able to offer different perspectives based on their unique experiences. We have grown in strength as well. There are ~45 authors who are a part of the SHE family now. We are fortunate to tap into their diverse skill sets as artists, multimedia specialists, and marketing experts to bring our project to fruition. 

We are deeply appreciative of the steadfast support and encouragement that we have received from the wider community. Every year proceeds from the sale of our books have gone to organizations in India as well as international ones that work in the areas of women’s empowerment, child development and refugee reha-bilitation. Since our publishing platform Bose Creative Publishers is based in Switzerland, we have set ourselves a goal to donate ~100 CHF every month to these causes. Our philanthropic work got a special boost this year as sponsors have stepped forward by contributing gene-rously as well. The SHE platform is especially grateful to them. We continue to look forward to hearing from our readers and engaging with them.

Finally, the editors would like to thank our authors for taking the time to write, revise and edit their work endlessly in a spirit of camaraderie. We are indebted to the coordinators of this project who have worked tirelessly to connect us across many international time zones. She Seeks rests on our shared belief that the power of the human mind is limitless.

Teesta Ghosh, US

(SHE Seeks, Editor-in-chief)

Kidnapped

                                       Radhika Singh, India

In one of my past jobs, I would travel to remote and offbeat towns and villages in India to participate in events organised by civil society organisations that worked with underprivileged or marginalised commu-nities.

The people I met on these trips were simple, large-hearted, welcoming, and hospitable, and I felt entirely at ease in their midst. This is what I enjoyed most about my job, as it allowed me to see different parts of rural and suburban India. I was beginning to appreciate my country's diversity, scale and brilliance.

Once, I had to travel to a small town in north India for an event. The nearest railway station for my destination was Agra, a famous tourist destination where people visit the Taj Mahal. From Agra, it would be a two-hour car journey. 

A colleague was to have accompanied me but cancelled at the last minute due to a health issue. I took the 6 a.m. train from Delhi to Agra all by myself.

This was a blessing since I could now read in peace. My colleague who had made the arrangements and planned the visit sent me the details of the person who was to pick me up from Agra railway station. I called to reconfirm that he would be at the station and then relaxed as the train sped into the hinterland of north India. The crisp early morning had turned into a sultry day by the time the train rattled into Agra station.

There was no one to receive me at the station. I stood uncertainly on the platform for a while and then started walking towards the exit, thinking that the driver would be at the entrance to the station since he was not answering his phone.

The compound outside the Agra railway station is maddening, with hundreds of touts and auto-rickshaw drivers vying with each other to find customers and trying to drag people into their vehicles. The heat, noise, and general congestion can unnerve newcomers. I stood at a strategically visible place and waited. Many people approached, trying to tempt me with the offer of air-conditioned rooms, city tours and Taj by moonlight at nominal prices. As a veteran traveller, I knew exactly how to ignore them and did so with ease.  

After an eternity, a bearded man in a red shirt approached, waving at me from a distance. He was holding a placard with my name on it. I heaved a sigh of relief, grabbed my bag and followed him. His car was close by, and we were out of the station instantly.

After the initial greetings, he became silent, intent on getting out of the city. I asked him a couple of questions but gave up since he was not responding.

My phone battery ran out, and I discovered I had not brought a charger. Hoping someone would have one at the venue, I put it away and gazed out the window.

We drove through crowded Agra city—with its congested by lanes and mounds of rotting garbage jostling for space with cafes and antique stores—at a smooth pace. At one point, the car stopped suddenly, and a man got into the car. He sat in the front seat alongside the driver.  A towel partially masked his face and was not visible from my position. This was unexpected; in retrospect, I should have objected but chose not to. A chauffeur giving a lift to his friend on a hot day was not unheard of in India, after all.

Fifteen minutes later, we left Agra city behind and hit the highway. The car gathered speed soon, and we got off the street and bumped along a dirt road. The landscape changed from concrete structures to verdant green fields on both sides. I gazed out at the beautiful ponds and emerald-green fields with colourfully clad men and women bent double in ankle-deep water. They were planting rice.