The Defender of the Faith
by
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The whole neighborhood was a microcosm of Rudyard Kipling's India. Apathy for the present and infatuation with the after life ruled every aspect of life. The poison of fatalistic value systems and self destructive slave mentality ran through the every vein of the society.
A new caste system emerged. The white superBrahmins from a far away land called England were the highest caste followed by the upper class Hindu men who treated their women worse than the British treated them. At the bottom of the heap were the untouchables who were assigned the fate of sub human craetures by all of the above.
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About the Book
BEST MARATHI NOVEL AWARD OF 2017 BY GOVT. OF MAHARASHTRA, INDIA
Almost everyone in the Shirodkar household knows Shyam is a doomed child. The family astrologer, who is never wrong, has predicted that Shyam will encounter three, near-death accidents and will not survive the third. The question is not if but when the event will happen.
As he grows up motherless in central India, Shyam is treated like a stepchild. While fearing he will be starved, branded, and sent to an orphanage, Shyam matures within his small, poor family while the political and social upheavals of the century threaten to destroy all of them. As Shyam’s life journey leads him to a missionary college in Nagpur, he embraces Western influences that prompt him to question traditions and wisdom acquired through centuries. While Europe heads toward war, Shyam and his orthodox Hindu father become immersed in a moral struggle that erupts from a volcano of religious fanaticism and age-old traditions. Can the two men ever reach a resolution or will Shyam be left with more questions than answers and a void he will never be able to fill?
Defender of the Faith is a powerful story of love, loss, resilience, and hope as an Indian boy comes of age and embraces Western values that cause friction between his father and him.
About the Author
Prakash Lothe is an author of many short stories, plays, and humorous articles. His first novel, originally published in India, was awarded “Best Novel” by the Bombay Literary society in 2017. Dr. Lothe is a pediatrician who now resides in New Jersey.