In the Land of the Lovers (A Punjab Qissa)

It evoked in her a feeling of silence and freedom, like riding a bicycle along a dirt track that cut through open fields, far from the watchful eyes of her parents.

Nanaki, a fiercely sensitive young woman, is raised by her grandparents in a quiet neighborhood in Chandigarh. She grows up to become an artist and a professor at an art college. As she moves through an idyllic childhood and a difficult adolescence, her personal journey unfolds against the haunting backdrop of Partition and her beeji’s turbulent past.

As an adult, Nanaki confronts the darker underbelly of contemporary Punjab. She takes up the cause of a gifted embroidery artist battling a corrupt system, while also witnessing the heartbreaking struggles of two women in her immediate circle. Through every trial, it is her grounding in Sufi philosophy that sustains her.

During frequent motorcycle trips to the small hill town of Kasauli, Nanaki finds love in Himmat, an architect shaped by his own personal tragedies and a scarred childhood.

Meditative and evocative, filtered through memory and longing, In the Land of the Lovers is a finely woven fable of interlocking lives. It explores struggle, loss, belonging, and love with luminous prose and emotional depth.