From India comes a multicultural story of immense pain and a delightful new beginning: how a bright young woman overcame a horrific tragedy by her sheer will power and the help of a caring friend, and with renewed strength entered a new life.Two devoted young adults go through the worst calamity of their lives. At 20, Jake Sharma, a Catholic, falls in love with 18-year-old Indira Rana, an elegant college student from an affluent Hindu family. To the couple, who admire each other very much, religious differences or social standing do not matter. During India's Republic Day celebrations, Indira with other teachers takes a group of high-schoolers to an all-India dance competition in New Delhi, one thousand miles away from her hometown. There, one night she goes through a murderous assault by four thugs and is thrown out on a pavement profusely bleeding and left for dead. (A similar gang assault on a medical student in Delhi, resulting in her death, sent shock waves throughout India.) Jake looks for Indira everywhere for months (her parents are against his persevering search) and locates her recuperating in a Catholic extended care facility in Bombay.

In shame and fury, she has shut herself off from the world and even her parents. But Jake, as Providence would have it, is now a trainee with a software giant in Bombay. He convinces her strict guardians and care-givers of the monastery, and under the guidance of a therapist, initiates his own rehab method by taking her out to enchanting tourist spots of the city, thus breaking her monotony and the persistent pounding of memories, and spends a lot of time rebuilding her emotional strength. Love is renewed. As a woman whose ancestral lineage includes resolute queens who jumped into the funeral pyres of their husbands rather than joining a Moslem invader's harem, Indira demonstrates her invincibility. One perceptive Hindu guru calls her "a divine feminine." Indira gradually and astonishingly becomes a star enabler of violently abused women, and a morale-building counselor. Kindness and support surround the couple, from friends, care-givers and even from the initially opposing family of Indira.

A quiet wedding then follows with a fantastic honeymoon in a world-class Jodhpur resort, secretly paid for by Indira's rich father, and then the birth of twins to the excitement and welcome of the couple's parents. The author wrote this highly emotional story because of his deep acquaintance with the Asian, Latin American and Moslem cultures and how women are treated in certain population groups. Even horrid and painful passages of this story are written with empathy, sensitivity, avoiding lurid details. Here are some important points in this story:1. Half of sexually violated women turn to a male as their first source of help and advice. Emotional healing that someone, a friend, a boyfriend or a husband can give, with care, patience and understanding, if done the right way, is more effective than psychiatric counseling. 2. This story, counseling and workshops forthrightly address traditional cultural or religious barriers, and the perennial customs of keeping women in subjugation or in a lower-class status.

3. Cultural strengths and the support of literature and spiritual traditions aid in the recovery process. 4. A workshop conducted for abused women at the end in which a fully rehabilitated Indira takes a leading part, is a fitting culmination to the story. *This is a highly emotional and intellectually stimulating read for young adults, counselors, law enforcement personnel, those involved in feminist issues, teachers, parents and advocates of women's safety and health. *It also has broad interdisciplinary interest, and one that lends itself well as a teaching and discussion tool. *In recent years, books on women abuse and subsequent trauma have been doing well in the market.