Jyoti Jha, HR professional-turned-author, believes she has always had an innate flair for understanding people and their myriad emotions. So, when she finally decided to pen down her musings and weave them into a tale, it wasn’t hard to zero in on the subject: Human emotions. And, that’s how it all started. Fast forward to 2021, and her debut book “The Realms of Human Emotions” transpired into reality.
The fictional read, which comprises seven thought-provoking short stories, takes the readers through a rollercoaster of emotions—joy, grief, passion, anger, sorrow and the like. Be it Durga’s turmoil as she wades through life and the curveballs thrown at her, or Aakash, a man who’s clearly late in love; the author intelligently touches upon the complexities of adulthood, and how most of it are beyond our control. As one journeys through the pages, it brings forth a question: Would things have been better for Durga if she’d conceived earlier than expected? Was her life really destined for doom had it not been for that one fateful incident that upended her life? Was seeing a therapist really the answer for Ishaani and could Aakash have saved his marriage if he invested more time in communicating what he really felt all through?
Marital and adult relationships aside, the chapter titled Memoirs of Sisterhood tugs at your heartstrings—especially if you’ve spent almost all your childhood and pre-adulthood bickering endlessly with your sibling. Paakhi and Pari, albeit exhaustingly predictable, tend to open fresh perspectives about sisterhood as one reaches the fag end of the tale. It questions a lot of things—the frugality of sibling rivalry included.
In general, the book traces the lives of characters from different walks of life and their tryst with trauma, at different levels and in different spheres. Be it the plight of Durga, a widowed young mother on the receiving end of cruel societal norms and her sister-in-law’s constant taunts, or Diya, a dutiful wife whose contributions never seem to suffice, the book is a basket of heart-warming stories that might be a work of fiction, but hold a great deal of truth. Through it all, one thing remains common – it’s never easy being a woman in a country like ours.
While the chapters are unique and have different tales to share, the underlying intent remains the same all through: diving deep into beautifully intricate human emotions that delicately balance the relationships around us. The book, albeit written in a simplistic tone, makes you wonder— aren’t we, after all, puppets in the hands of fate? What’s right and what’s wrong—who gets to choose?
Book: The Realms of Human Emotions
Author: Jyoti Jha
Publisher: PR Publisher
Pages: 79; Price: Rs 49
