Amit Soni

Shiva Rajan, a student of La Martiniere, lives with his mother in Calcutta. His mother, an alumna of Shantiniketan, had lost her husband before they could get married. She runs a dance academy in Calcutta. On one summer holiday, Shiva goes to his maternal grandparents where he learns so much about life and nature from his shepherd grandfather, Mansukh. He also finds some good friends there. Shaiva gets connected deeply with his grandmother, Sudha, when she narrates her real life’s stories to him. Sudha's father was a sculptor, which was inherited by Sudha. But she gets married in a very early age and her father dies just after few months of her marriage. Mansukh was a librated guy as he didn't care for anyone in house. He stays angry with his businessman father, Krishna Kantha who is in touch with Gandhi. Mansukh had lost his mother when he was just ten. He thinks that his father was responsible for the death of his mother when they lived in Surat, Gujarat. At the time when his mother died, his father was on the way to India from Johannesburg. On ship, Krishna Kantha meets Junior, an attendant of the cruise. Junior helps Krishna Kantha to meet Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi on the ship. Gandhi was returning from South Africa after a long struggle against apartheid. The characters of Gandhi and Junior both impresses him immensely. He signs an appointment letter for Junior as a CEO of his fabric company in South Africa and he himself decides to join Gandhi's movements for the freedom of their country. He reaches to the City Hospital in Surat where his wife was admitted but couldn't save her. He regrets for being away from his family. This affects Mansukh badly and he starts hating his father. Krishna Kantha sells everything what he had in Surat and return back to Shantiniketan. West Bengal. Mansukh starts attending music classes at Vishva Bharti, an university established by Rabindra Nath Tagore. Mansukh hates his father more when he gets remarried after falling in love with Vandana who he meets while participating in a movement of Gandhi in Champaran, Bihar. After a couple of years Krishna Kantha gets hanged being found guilty in a conspiracy against British government, but soon before his death Mansukh realizes his duties and he goes to meet his father in the prison. He regrets for his acts towards his father. They hug each other and weep in prison. After his father's death, Mansukh starts spending his days on mountains and forest. They attract him and he feels utmost peace and harmony among them. He chooses to become a shepherd. Shiva also starts going to the mountains with his shepherd grandfather where he meets Vani, a beautiful girl. Vani lives in a nearby village and comes to the mountains to graze her sheep with Shiva’s grandfather. Vani had never gone to school but her intellect impresses Shiva’s innocent mind. They become good friends. Shiva returns to his mother in Calcutta when his holiday gets over. But his fate defeats him and he loses his mother in a very young age of fifteen. His grandmother Sudha comes to live with him in Calcutta. Shiva recovers somehow and keeps continue his study. But this misery turns him into an author. He starts writing and becomes one of the most liked authors of his age. He decides to go back to his shepherd grandfather and write in mountains with peace. After years, he again meets Vani in the forest. This time he finds Vani more beautiful than before. He falls in love with her and mountains simultaneously. He learns some great things from his grandfather. He is astonished to see his grandfather's wild library in the forest and his collection of rarest books. One day, in the wild library, he finds his grandfather talking to Swami Dhirananada, a great monk of Himalayas. After few months, his grandfather decides to leave for Himalyas, but before leaving, he entrusts his truncheon, a symbol of a perfect shepherd, to Shiva.

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