Antim Adhyay

A large segment of educated youth from rural backgrounds has settled in cities and metropolises, including some high-ranking officials. Due to reservations, backward classes and Dalits are also included. The majority of these individuals, living a privileged life disconnected from their background, are egocentric and self-centered. Among them are ungrateful individuals like Samaresh, who, through deceit and trickery, render their parents homeless. The tragic outcome is the fathers death from hunger and poverty. The villagers arrange for a shroud and a funeral. The destitute mother of four sons becomes a maid in the neighborhood. This novel features some characters who have reached the final stages of their lives, devastated by their sons, but are not pitiable. These old men, from a village with crumbling values, are not helpless or lonely. They reflect the human desire and assurance to share each others sorrows, to help, and to live happily in a collective community. The two sons living in America and the doctor-daughter in London hold their mother captive in the alluring web of relationships, while the father, left behind, goes insane and dies in a mental asylum, is heartbreaking. Ramdhari Singh Diwakar, a master storyteller of rural life, has crafted this poignant tale of todays reality with great care.