As a girl on the brink of womanhood in 1960s India, Shanti Bamzai has big dreams. Rather than enter into an arranged marriage like her sister, Shanti embarks on a journey into the unknown, leaving her family home behind for an education and a chance to chart her own destiny. While India experiences an upheaval of cultural and societal changes as old-world traditions collide with the modern global era, Shanti navigates college, a marriage of her own choosing, and motherhood, fighting a constant battle between the pressures of traditional expectations and her own burning desire to be an artist and an independent woman. A move to America presents exciting new opportunities, but Shanti is disappointed to find herself still hemmed in by the restrictions of her Indian upbringing. As her children become adults and her marriage becomes a shell of what it once was, Shanti must find the courage to step out of her husband's shadow and into the life she's always dreamed of.
About the Author: Madhu B. Wangu is an author and the founder of Writing Meditation for Mindful Writers. She has a doctorate in the phenomenology of Religion from the University of Pittsburgh (1988) and a post-doctoral Fellowship from Harvard University (1989-1991). For fifteen years she taught Hindu and Buddhist art history at various universities. A member of Pennwriters Organization she was its board member from 2007-10012. Madhu Wangu has written two books about goddesses. Images of Indian Goddesses: Myths, Meanings and Models, (Abhinav Publications, New Delhi, 2003) discusses the meaning of goddess myths and symbols. A Goddess is Born, (Spark Publishers, 2002) details the social, political, and cultural meanings of the Kashmiri goddess, Khir Bhavani. She has also written two extensively illustrated books for young adults, Hinduism (Facts on File, Inc., New York, 1991) and Buddhism (Facts on File, Inc., New York, 1993). Based on decades of meditation Madhu Wangu has developed Writing Meditation Method. In 2010 she founded the Mindful Writers Group. Five years since its inception, the group has twenty members and a waiting list. The success of the practice is evident in the novels and books written and published by the members. Her CD, "Meditations for Mindful Writers" (2011) has inspired professional as well as novice writers to practice their skill with mindfulness. Writing Meditation Method improves focus, reduces stress and anxiety, removes blocks, and increases writing flow. Due to the success of the Mindful Writers Group (North), Dr. Wangu is starting a second group of Mindful Writers in the east of Pittsburgh beginning March 2016. Madhu Wangu's debut collection, Chance Meetings: Stories About Cross-Cultural Karmic Collisions and Compassion was released in April 2015. Her novel, An Immigrant Wife: Her Spiritual Journey is to be released in April 2016. Currently, she is writing her second novel, The Last Suttee. She lives in Wexford, Pennsylvania, USA with her husband Manoj, a retired robotics engineer. They have two daughters-an avionics engineer and a pediatrician.