Before Jivavarta became a kingdom, and before there were a thousand petty comforts by which men convinced themselves they are civilized, there was only survival. Men lived, if living is the word. They woke with hunger and slept with fear, and between those two certainties they committed acts that later generations would call barbaric. But barbarism is a comfortable word invented by those who arrive much later in the story. The men of that age did not think themselves cruel. They killed not from hatred, but from the simple conviction that there was not enough life in the world for all of them. They merely wished to survive. To survive is sometimes the most violent of desires. Sarvabhu, the god of gods, watched these men from above. Or from within, the distinction mattered only to mortals, for he was in everything, all things rose from him, and in the end, all would dissolve into him. He had been watching before time began, and he would watch long after time ends. The tragedy of et...
Official website of Shon Mehta, acclaimed author of The Timingila and creator of the fictional universe of Jivavarta. Her works include 'The Girl Who Asked Why' and 'Lair of the Monster.' Explore philosophical allegories and stories on human nature.