Hello readers,
Shackled has been a wonderful experience for me. An emotional and adventurous ride through times engraved in history . It portrayed the lives of Durga and her grandmother, Neera. Their love for each other stay strong even at times when the body could bear no more and the mind was overwhelmed with unthinkable stress and hopelessness. Their love triumphed over all odds.
The story is a work of fiction, rooted in times of history. Part of it, is from my grandma’s collection of stories while the remaining was just a result of my imaginations . Parts of it would make you giggle, overflowing your mind with memories from childhood days while the rest of it would just take you through an emotional journey.
Now I feel like sharing a secret with you all – in Chapter 1- THE STRANGER – it had a part from my childhood days. The part where Durga would mix all the ingredients from her grandma’s kitchen, top it with some grass and feed the same to the sheep and goats grazing around. Yes, that part ! Just that, I got to try it once, but I enjoyed feeding the goats and the sheep with my own recipe, thoroughly. 🙂
Since I am a new writer on the block, any feedback or likes on my posts, has given me an extra boost. Thank you readers for reading my first novella – Shackled. Each one of you is just awesome. And it is just for you all, that I am feeling like writing more and more. Thank you so much for all your love.
Shackled is comprised of 13 chapters. Chapters that would slowly reveal the secret of the green box. A secret , passed on from one hand to another, through ages. Even the safe keepers has never known what the box contained. Despite the greed of the people around, the lives lost and the existence of their loved ones threatened, the safe keepers of the box did not surrender once to any kind of weakness. Such was the amount of dedication and loyalty.
The characters – Neera, Durga, Uma, Bhairab, Kanai, Shailja, Javed, Kunal and Charulata – they all were the integral components of the novella. They together created Shackled- the mystery of the green box.
The partition of India, creation of East Pakistan which then got liberated as a separate country- Bangladesh. The green box sees it all. It travels through times before the partition of Bengal, and then witnesses the riots after the partition, the terror during operation searchlight and also a journey in Calcutta from a period when it was still called Calcutta, to the period when the city of joy got renamed as Kolkata (year 2001.)
I would like to mention a few websites that I went through while writing Shackled. A lot of reading and research was involved in the formation of this story, in addition to the collection of experiences of neighbors and relatives who has been through that time period.
- Londoni worldwide limited – http://www.londoni.co
- http://www.britannica.com
- http://www.indiatoday.in
- thedailystar.net
- http://www.dhakatribune.com
A special thanks to the above websites for strengthening my concept and providing some great facts and figures, that would adorn the pages of history till the end of time.
It was quite an experience reading through history and perceiving the story of Durga and the green box unwind in such a background.
Thank you once again for reading and giving me an opportunity to entertain you all with more of my works,
Best wishes to all of you ! Happy reading !!!
© Sohini Dutta and A weaver at work Blog, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sohini Dutta and A weaver at work Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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