Not a lot of working, single mothers have their own book out. Even less have two. Ritu Lalit, mother of two, has just released her second book titled Hilawi. A word coined by the author herself, “hilawi” apparently means, and I quote here, “Jo hila kar rakh de”. If you’ve read her first book “A Bowlful Of Butterflies”, don’t pick this one up with any preconceived notions.
Hilawi is sort of a mating between parts of Mahabharata and Artemis Fowl. A perfect balance of myths and science makes Hilawi a book which has a little something for everything. Our two heroes, Yaduvir and Gargi Ojha accompany us on a journey that will literally leave the reader gasping for breath by the end of it. A complex web of the past and the present, interspersed with gods and demons and a mythical shield, Hilawi promises to set a new standard for Indian fiction.
Hilawi is being published by Popular Prakashan and is already available online. Ritu Lalit, currently residing in Faridabad, lives with her two sons and her daughter-in-law and is already on to her third book. And on top of all of that she still manages to maintain a refreshingly candid blog. Worth a look, as is her new book.
