"Sojourn: A Woman in Exile" | Sojourn – studying the mind of Mira
This book is a psychological study of the mind of a 36-year-old single woman, Mira, who reminiscences of her past life in a span of twenty four hours, culminating into an awaiting surprise at her doorstep. One day out of her monotonous life has been chosen by the author to delve into the deeper recesses of her mind that harbour childhood pains, a distorted parent child relationship and an overarching love relationship that paved the way for a dreamy future but was put to halt in between.
A dream that elicits the start of the narrative journey of this woman, Mira, is followed by an amalgamation of the everyday chores with her emotional abundance. She is reminded of Veer, the man she loved, when she goes out for her morning jog, she is reminded of him while taking a bath, she is reminded of him by every gush of air that touches her face, and to the extent that she has to leave all her work and sit in introspection at her most favourite place set in the heart of a small district in Sikkim – Pelling.
The overlap of her thoughts with the air of the mountains and the crisp, biting snow, not to forget the tingling warmth of the mountain sun is what has been the recipient of her emotional outburst and the vignettes of her past that lay entangled to herself and were then unravelled through the calming effect of Nature.
What follows in the narrative is a dive into her consciousness evoking memories of her past, starting from the first time she met him, to the last time they met. The cage of memories enclosed a love story juxtaposed with familial relationships, the ups and downs and the early adulthood fears of people in love.
As she returns to the present, there is a symbolic turning over of a new leaf, a new life to be precise, only to be rewarded with a moral dilemma towards the end.
What should be the end is something that the author wants to leave for the readers to judge, pertaining to their personal understanding of love, relationships and moral rights or wrongs.
