Shekhar Ek Jeevani : Part1

Shekhar: Ek Jivani is Agyeyas most widely read novel; a work of Hindi fiction that readers of every generation have considered essential, and after reading it, one feels as if they have emerged from a full, flowing river of life. Whether the novels protagonist, Shekhar, is Agyeya himself or someone else has always been a subject of curiosity. Some consider it a completely autobiographical work, but Agyeya himself maintains that it is not an autobiography. He says that self-realization is not the only realization; even something that happens to others can be self-realization if we have the ability to remain open to it. There is a bit too much of my own in Shekhar. But this story is not something that can be dismissed as one mans private talk. Agyeya considers it a reflection of his era and society. In it, my society and my era speak... it symbolizes the era of me and Shekhar. With multifaceted and complex characters, Agyeyas comment about Shekhar, the protagonist of this novel, depicting with intense and passionate emotionality the pain of a person shaping his time-society and his identity among them: Shekhar is not a great man, he is not a good man either. But he is honestly trying to identify himself in the light of the accumulated experience of humanity. By walking with him, you will find that somewhere within you too there is a Shekhar who is aware, independent and honest, fiercely honest.