Flowers In Flames

At the onset, the author wishes to clarify that it is not his intent to pass judgment on the American life or culture. The story described in this book is a story of only one of the thousands of Gujarati families settled in America. It is not the author’s intent to imply that all Indian American families have similar problems.
This story is based on real life events. The author spent a few months in the middle of the subject family to understand their pain and compulsions in order to write this book. He has made sincere efforts to avoid embellishments and exaggeration.
America’s capitalistic system and open democracy have definitely worked well for Gujarati and other Indian communities. While acknowledging their material success, the larger question is, those who breath and live the Indian sanskar, are they spiritually thriving or falling behind? The author leaves the answer to the discretion of the reader.
The noted Gujarati Literature Rajnikumar Pandya was invited to America to write a story of two children of divorce and the corresponding hardship. The fate of a divorcing Gujarati couple in the nation of the dollar is very different. This is a story of green card complications, mountain of debt back in India, the influence of a very different American lifestyle and material calculations. This is a story of two innocent children caught in the web of divorce surrounded by fighting parents and conniving grandparents.
The author thinks the main culprit of this story is not an individual, but possibly the “green card”. The story of the attempts to protect the children of divorce from the so-called green card fire, is this book – ‘Flowers in Flame’ or ‘Pushpadah’ in Gujarati. While reading this book, if the reader feels the pain of these children, hears their silent screams and sheds a drop of tear, the author will consider it a success.

Ashok Thakkar Johns Creek, GA (USA)