The Hindi translation of my novel ‘Ascendance’ titled ‘Arohan’ was launched at a well attended function in New Delhi on April 8, 2022.

The book was launched by Mr. Arjun Ram Meghwal, Hon’ble Minister for State for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India. Dr Sadhna Sharma, Principal of SP Mukherjee College and Mr. Laxmi Shankar Vajpai, renowned poet and writer also spoke on the occasion. Also present on the dias was Mr Ashok Maheshwari, MD of Rajkamal Prakashan.

‘Arohan’ is science fiction published in Hindi by Rajkamal Publications. It is the translation of the English ‘Ascendance’ brought out by Rupa Publications in 2018.

It is set on a different planet in the distant future. Earth is finished, and humans have relocated to another planet, continuing the separation of men and women that began in the last days of Earth. They now live on two separate sides of the planet, in an uneasy truce after centuries of bitter warfare. Each side feels complete; women and men do not need each other to reproduce. Indeed, there are very few babies, as everyone can live forever. And then…there is a murder. The existing equilibrium between men and women begins to crumble. 

If a clash happens, how long would it last? What would remain? Who? How many? 

As each side regroups along the Fence, Maya, a woman’s consciousness from twenty third century Earth, reveals the past. She provides a glimpse of the intertwined existence of men and women. Would knowledge of their shared past change the course of the future? 

Delving into ideas of gender, immortality and consequent new social constructs, ‘Arohan’ is set in a world that presents a possible, not a dystopian future. 

It is one of the first of its kind published in Hindi.