Vasant-Lata' is more than just a teenage novel and more, too, than the story of two young people who are themselves the tragic victims of broken marriages. Its wide canvas, spanning India, East Africa and Britain, makes it a true tale for our community in this century which has witnessed emigration on an epic scale.
Vasant Desai is on his way to recruit teaching staff for the Janata High School in Kisumu, Kenya, of which he is the general secretary. On the train from Nadiad to Ahmedabad he meets the smart and beautiful Lata, who is herself travelling to appear at the interview as one of the applicants for a post at the school. It's a case, although restrained, of love at first sight.'
Imagine Lata's surprise the next day, when the interview officer she faces is the same 'Mister' whom she encountered on the train.
Lata is one of the successful...