Cheryl Snell

Kalpavriksha Cheryl Snell

They claim him as kin. They say he owes them. But when Ram's past collides with his present on a night rife with secrets revealed and oppression uncovered, he is forced to choose between his need to connect and his desire to remain apart. Against the backdrop of a police crackdown on Dalits and a riot raging just outside the wedding hall where his nephew is celebrating his marriage, the city burns. Into the pomp-and-circumstance of the wedding another reality intrudes: Ram runs into a student of his and quickly becomes involved in the boy's personal drama. Later that same day, Anand's father will die at the hands of racist hospital workers and the son will be arrested for lashing out at an official. Nela and Ram, teaming up to rescue him, come to grips with the nature of kinship, Can we choose our family? What do we really owe one another? What goes and what stays in a heart split by two cultures? Together, brother and sister uncover Anand's father's secret, a legacy meant to change his son's life. It will change Ram's too, as he stands at the intersection of duty and individuation, trying to find his way home.