The Ashram (novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Ashram
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author = Sattar Memon
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country = India
language = English
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genre = Novel
publisher = Iuniverse Inc
release_date = April 2000
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media_type = Print (Paperback & Hardback)
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isbn = ISBN 0595094066
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"The Ashram" is a 2000 novel by Indian writer Sattar Memon. It deals with the plight of an oppressed young woman in India. It also entails the subjects of the spirituality of life, love and death.

Plot summary

Two people living on opposite ends of the world: one dreaming of death, the other running from it. Improbably, their fate lies wrapped in each other and with it the exposure of abuse and mutilation against women. In his book, The Ashram, Sattar Memon shows how oppressed and grieving people reach an enlightenment, and helps readers to do the same. Dr. Jonathan Kingsley, traveling to a Himalayan spiritual hermitage, tries to save himself from suicidal thoughts after the death of his wife. This hermitage, known as an Ashram, was meant to provide him peace even as he sought to rehabilitate others through volunteer work. But he never expected the practices and rituals he would discover, or imagined himself trying to save one woman from her unwanted future. As the doctor searches for an excuse to keep on living, Seeta struggles to keep her own husband alive, not only out of love, but for her own safety. The townspeople of Baramedi, bowing to the wishes of a local landowner (nicknamed Satan), have decided that when her husband dies, Seeta should climb atop a burning pyre to burn with his body. This practice of suttee, out of use for many years, brings Jonathan to her town in an effort to save her, but when he arrives at the pyre, he soon realizes there is more to his journey: unbeknownst to him, the woman’s safety is intricately tied with his own spiritual salvation.

Literary significance & criticism

Sattar Memon's "The Ashram" takes this beginning of fear and oppression and shows how such trials can lead to happiness and fulfillment. Readers quickly become caught up in the dramatic tale. As an editor of Writer's Digest, Mr. Robert Gover noted: “Sattar Memon bests James Redfeld in suspenseful, action adventure.” Another Writer's Digest editor, Mr. David King, sees the book as a potential “summer blockbuster.”

The above information is taken from the publisher's (Xlibris) press release.

Awards and nominations

"The Ashram" has won second place in the Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards, under the “inspirational books” category.

"The Ashram" also won third place in the in the PEN/NOB HILL SOULMAKING CONTEST. [http://www.soulmakingcontest.us/page6.html Winners Listing]

ee also

*Ashram

External links

* [http://www.indianewengland.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&AudID=9385736839DB419F9BE37F2714C206BA&tier=4&id=EF37C06B416C45078B6FBC8ADF720600 Cancer specialist Memon wins award for “The Ashram”]
* [http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=2822 Book Review - The Ashram]
* [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=uJ3LZuuC37&isbn=1413420699&itm=2 Readers' Reviews]