Kathmandu, July 25 -- If I had to sum up Uma Subedi's new novel 'Paridhi' in one word, I think the word would be 'trippy'. The novel has many all too realistic aspects, and yet, almost throughout the whole story, the reader is left wondering about what exactly is going on.

The story centres around 'Arya', who is herself a writer, a playwright to be exact. She has, however, grown tired of playwriting. Not playwriting exactly, but everything surrounding it - the casting, the direction, and the stage setting - has tired Arya. 'Paridhi', she says to her closest friend, Sambhavi, will be her last.

From the get-go, the novel establishes a sort of non-realism. In the very opening scene of the first half of the book, titled 'Arya', readers lear...