A new novel explores the institution of marriage in context of changing times and also touches upon issues like adultery, love and trust.
"Seduction by Truth" by Indian Railway Traffic Service officer Mukul Kumar dares readers to solve mankind's oldest puzzle: marriage.
The book tells the story of Shiva, who is an IIM passout, works in an MNC and lives in a posh Delhi suburb. His wife is the attractive Akriti and they have a little son Ankur.
But he is the picture of disenchantment? He discovered that Akriti has found distraction with someone else.
His is caught in a fix on which path to follow. He embarks on a journey to empirically explore different options - the sexually vibrant personal secretary Sana and Italian Mary, to name just two - but at the end of it, winds up with more questions than he started out with.
To confuse things further, Akriti continues to occupy a tender place in his heart; a woman first and a wife later.
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Shiva claims he would not have turned adulterous but for Akriti's adultery.
He calls his approach to Akriti's adultery passively vengeful, because it did not lead to any direct confrontation with her, or lead to their separation, and remained subdued at the level of anger.
The novel, Kumar's second after "As Boys Become Men", is published by Bloomsbury India.