Dehradun, Sept. 6 -- Book Review

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Lavanyadevi

by Kusum Khemani

Translated by Banibrata Mahanta

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Certain answers to the eternal quest of self-understanding emerge in Kusum Khemani's 2013 novel Lavanyadevi, translated from the Hindi original to English by Banibrata Mahanta in 2024. A sweeping intergenerational story set within an aristocratic zamindar family, this book offers a keen lens with which to examine how we are shaped by our ancestors, who in turn evolve through different economic and social contexts. Migration has been a defining aspect of Marwari identity, and a backdrop of their shifting landscapes over two centuries highlights tensions of Yugadharma between Indic tradition and Western modernity for three clear-eyed ma...