KATHA SAWALICHI

ALL THE 13 STORIES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN DURING MY STAY IN THE SERENE VICINITY OF GOMANTAK SINCE LAST FOUR YEARS. EACH WOMAN APPEARED TO SOLVE THE LIFE PUZZLE IN HER OWN UNIQUE WAY. THOUGH THE CHARACTERS ARE FICTITIOUS, THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY HAVE ARE TRUE TO THEIR FULLEST. A FEW OF THESE WOMEN HAVE FACED LIFE SENSIBLY AND IN SANE MANNER. INDEED, THEY WERE CONFRONTED WITH A VICIOUS TURN IN LIFE WHICH THEY CROSSED IN A POISED MANNER. I GUESS THIS WAS POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE EQUILIBRIUM WITH WHICH THEY LED THEIR LIVES AND ALSO BECAUSE THEY WERE BASICALLY MATURED IN ALL ASPECTS. ‘LADY DIANA’ AND ‘JASWANDI’ PORTRAY TYPICAL WOMEN FROM GOMANTAK HAVING COMPLETE FAITH UPON LOVE. THE OTHERS LIKE ‘ASAWARI’, ‘POORVA’, ‘RESHMA’, OR THOSE WHOM WE COME ACROSS IN STORIES LIKE ‘MOKAL ZAAD’, ‘LEKURWALA’ OR ‘HARAVALELA CHANDRA’ HAVE THE ABILITY TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY HAVE COME ACROSS. THEY HAVE INDEED REACHED THEIR FINAL DESTINATION. THE CHARACTER IN ‘KATHA SAWALICHI’ IS THE ONE WHO HAS WILLINGLY ACCEPTED TO BE A SHADOW. TO BE A SHADOW OR TO HAVE A SEPARATE IDENTITY IS AFTER ALL INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE. I HAVE TRIED MY BEST TO PORTRAY THESE CHARACTERS IN SHADES I UNDERSTOOD.