Aks

Description

In a game of chess, the queen is the most powerful piece, yet the whole game of chess is about the king’s show of power – his absolute success, where he captures the other king and declares check mate.

Chirya, a young girl of 8 years old, is not quite satisfied with this arrangement. If the queen is the most powerful piece in chess, then surely she must be the most ‘important’ piece of chess, not the king, Chirya insists. And in the real life game of chess, Chirya is about to do just that – make the queen the most important player.

Aks (English: Reflection) is a story of struggle, of injustice, of childhood traumas and life’s crippling hurdles. It is a story of courage, of resilience, of not bowing down, and standing up each time you fall flat on your face.

Aks is not one of my usual stories…because there is no mention of religion, in the sense that I have not included in it any fire and brimstone lectures, or interspersed it with religious debates. Therefore, it is a possibility that general readers will be disappointed with it. They may find the story hard to accept and difficult to digest. The greatest challenge a writer faces is to move out of her comfort zone that has brought and continues to bring her acclaim. Becoming entrenched in one style, makes the writer complacent and she ends up adopting a style that becomes a habit. Therefore, Aks is one of my favorites because I love the character of the protagonist I have created – Aks, herself. The Writer cannot afford to remain within the safe confines of her habit; she needs to talk about social issues too; especially those issues that society tries to pretend do not exist. The writer needs to jar readers out of their complacency; make them sit up and take notice of ills that prevail in society; readers also need to be challenged to logical solutions to prevailing problems. They need to be shaken out doing so, the writer exposes herself to a heap of criticism and may end up at the center of dispute. Aks is a story that challenges traditions and stereotypes. It’s purpose is not to change mindsets .It’s purpose is to generate a debate on life. So, what will you find in Aks?…. It’s for you to find out…. explore the story and try to work out the riddle behind the purpose. Read and decide, for yourself. I leave you, the reader, to discover, decipher, answer the questions that arise; I leave it all up to the reader… like a puzzle or a riddle that has to be solved. I strongly feel most people will not be able to arrive at a conclusion; but those who do, will be riveted by it. So, welcome to Aks, let’s step into this wonderland and explore new dimensions of love and relationships that will engulf us. In this world of love we, like the sun and the moon, follow a course that is consistent and reach destination that are perpetually continuing…