Freedom

Ways Of Life is a novel detailing the journey of atonement experienced by Vasudev and a group of his friends in Shivpur, a rural Indian village.

The narrative opens with the unannounced arrival of Eric, Vasudev's work colleague. Both Vasudev and Eric are struggling to cope up with the demands of life. While Vasudev's other friends appear happy on the surface, they too are living vacuous lives. Eric's arrival, combined with his readiness to change, prompts the group to pause and look back at their own lives. Haunted by their troubled pasts and uncertain presents, the characters find themselves standing at a precipice.

Eric has a promise to fulfil, a specific task to complete while in India. As he carries out his mission, he slowly aligns himself with reality. In his company, Vasudev and the rest of his friends also find strength to reinforce their belief systems. They are guided through this transformation by Vasudev's mother, a village elder Bhausaheb and Vasudev's former girlfriend Saudamini. Vasudev's mother provides them a women's perspective and practical tips for maintaining focus, living day to day life without getting worked up, handling trauma, and maintaining relationships.

Across this three volume novel, we travel alongside these characters as they navigate their respective processes of atonement. It is a chronicle of their unique circumstances, individual experiences, and collective evolution. As they search for a way forward, they are introduced to the Shad-Darshana, (the six major schools of Indic philosophical thought and Ways of Life - Vaisheshika, Nyaya, Poorva Mimansa, Uttara Mimansa or Vedant, Yoga and Sankhya); the three other Darshanas - Charvaka, Jainism and Buddhism that question and negate the existence of the soul; the important Upanishads and other post-Vedic literature; and the scriptures of the other sects and sub-sects of Sanatana Dharma.

They investigate how these teachings stand in comparison to other major world religions, faiths and personal belief systems. Through this, they learn the art of critical and positive thinking process alongside the traditional practices and methods prescribed for attaining a permanent state of bliss, today, tomorrow and ever after.

However, the characters do not follow a rigid or predictable path. They evolve and react as per their own whims and distinct personalities; they are ordinary people, just like us. It is a tortuous and complex journey for everyone involved. Ultimately, each character selects his or her own individual path; one that the individual believes holds a genuine promise of permanent happiness. They are on way to the liberation from bondage and the past. They start living in the present, accepting the reality with a renewed purpose, and swimming with the flow.