Overview

This novel consists of three separate stories from widely different periods of time. The first is set in ancient India, in the fictional kingdom of Thaneshwar whose nobility is engaged in advancing altruistic living for its citizens but faces an existential threat from a sinister adversary, whose defeat is the protagonist's main task.

The second takes place in the near contemporary India of the 1970s where a young woman civil servant appears in a district for her training and is immediately immersed in its difficult problems and dangerous and volatile environment.

The backdrop of the last is the future India of the 2050s where a Japanese woman undertakes a journey to India across the Himalayas in pursuit of both a public mission for peace in Asia as well as a secret personal quest.

The three stories deal with the similarity of choices faced by humanity in every epoch and age that requires resolution according to its best principled judgments and prevailing values and philosophies. The stories also discuss the continuing quest of individuals over the ages to overcome their fragile existence by immersing themselves in strengthening the future of humankind.