In The City Of Clouds: A Romantic Journey

Sweta Rani is a debut novelist whose proficient writing and prolific way of wielding words into magic is bringing fame and popularity among the community of fiction readers. She is an industrialist, an artist and an experienced writer before an author. She has several acclaimed writings in her name published in College magazines and Corporate publications. She is a trained Kathak Dancer and a self- motivated painter. She therefore recalls her memorable performances in the field of art and literature keeping her close to her creative self. Her latest musings in the form of her recently launched book “In the City of Clouds” exhibits her exemplary control over language and expressive delivery of emotions.

“Sometimes when I look up, the sky bows down, takes me through its unwritten, clean spaces, gives me a chance to look better, how behind the city of clouds, the suns have hidden themselves, waiting to be discovered, only through faith and love. I want you to look up and find your sun.”

This is how she opens up her book. In the City of Clouds is a tale of a young girl Hridya who has many stories to tell. Stories that stay behind with you and at the same time encompasses advocacies related to family, work, love, student life, feminism and what not. The romantic journey that one witnesses in the book is lightly inspired from the love story of Gwalior’s king Mann Singh Tomar and his 9^th wife Ninni. The historical aspect in the book is a gentle attempt to revive stories which are getting lost in the translations of time. The richness of language is captivating. Some can call it ‘a mighty king falling in love with a common girl’ with a modern twist. Others may call it just a regular story with an irregular story-telling, in an exceptional way. The will to accept challenges through a modern love story is weaved around Hridya and Aarav who like many of us, dwindle between the life choices and their fated fate.

Sweta shares that it has not been an easy journey to publish her book as a writer. It does look easy from outside but is a daunting task. She points two specific reasons for this, one of which is to share your story with the rest of the world where everyone is ready to scrutinize your work and the hard-work you have put in. The second reason lies in how she felt like an outsider among the publishers and the world of PR. She concludes that the journey is however worth as one learns a lot besides writing. An engineer by profession most of her time is consumed by work and her daily routine, it is writing that keeps her sane and sorted. Sweta has a small library collection which is rich in historical fiction, romance fiction and philosopies. We don’t really need to guess what inspired Sweta to write her second novel. If you like Romance with a pinch of history mixed together, then this book is certainly for you.

“ I always had a fascination for time, the biggest metaphor in life. Because of its limitlessness. Because of its ageless ageing. Time rules over everything we did, do or intend to do. The past remains alive, the future continues to interfere and the present is trapped between the two, making futile efforts to plead with time to stop for a while. But it wouldn’t. It never has. However, it always keeps on whispering, building up the voice in our heads. These voices are nothing but the wisps of time, borrowed from the lessons of seen and the unseen. We pretend to be good listeners, but they are often muzzled at the pretense of the outer world, affecting us in a manner that cloudy daylight affects a bird, which fears the dark and prepares to return home, without thinking that the remains of the day might have more in store for her.”