ISBN: 9789382711643    Publisher: Vitasta Publishing Year of publishing: 2015     Format:  Paperback No of Pages: 278        Language: English

Why Don't You Convert? is a collection of twenty-three stories based on true events spanning several decades in the life of the author-- from the idyllic early days as a fresh medical graduate in Kashmir, to the trauma of the refugee camps in Jammu. He looks at his subjects not only through the lens of a doctor but also through the prism of a writer, interested in their diseases as much as in the subjects themselves with their myriad physical, psychological and existential problems. You have the story of a man unable to erase the spit that his father-in-law flings into his face; a young woman caught between the humiliation of rejection and the relentless persuasion to convert; a doctor kidnapped to treat a terrorist in his hideout; a running cricket commentary that brings to life a patient in coma; a pir with magical powers to congeal the blood in the womb of maidens; a dwarfish boy who will stop at nothing to grow tall; an old man who develops intractable hiccups after giving chase to a thief; a bear hug that robs a doctor of his sleep...
Each story brings alive the human touch as the deft narrative unfolds through scenes and situations, through narratives and dialogues, through drama and suspense, through agony and ecstasy, holding the reader spellbound till the very end.
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An academician, Santosh Bakaya's writings have been published worldwide. Her mystery novels, featuring the Razdaan kids, were quite a rage in the nineties. With a doctorate in political theory, it is the practice of life which has always enthralled her, finding expression in her essays and poems, published in national and international anthologies. Her articles on Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr have figured in reputed journals. Her collection of essays, Flights from My Terrace, was recently published as an e-book. Her poems have made it to the highly commended category in Destiny Poets website and in Pentasi B World Friendship Poetry. She also won the Reuel International Award for Writing and Literature 2014, for her long poem, Oh Hark!
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