The partition of the country in 1947, saw millions dead and an equal number of people who survived underwent a traumatic, harrowing experience. Most did not actually believe that the partition was actually going to take place and that they will be totally uprooted. This is the story of a young women whose family and whole life is totally ruined and she lands in India from Karachi, completely shattered, almost penniless, with two small children and nobody to help her and how instead of giving in to defeat and despair, she fights against all odds with great self-respect and determination. The gist of the story_ Kanchan is a girl from a farmer`s family in a village in North Gujarat near Sindh. Thay have some land but her father who is a little educated does not want to live there all his life and goes away to Karachi where he finds a job. He then takes his family to Karachi and enrolls Kanchan and her brother Visu in a school. Kanchan`s grand parents, not willing to come, have stayed back. After only a few years, the grandfather suddenly passes away, so Kanchan`s mother has to go and live with the grandmother who would not leave home for one year. Kanchan manages school and household, and learns a lot. When her father goes to bring his mother and wife, the two children are well looked after by Devshankar sheth a rich businessman for whom he works. Devshankar`s children Amrut and Jaya become their good friends. When the father returns with his mother and wife, Kanchan and Visu are absolutely shocked to see that their mother has become a complete cripple due to Arthritis. Kanchan decides to drop out of school to look after her mother and the household. Soon afterwards, to everbody`s delight, her marriage to Amrut is arranged, and takes palce. Devshankar and Amrut are Pro-British and Kanchan and her school friend Lalita are pro-congress, but Kanchan and Amrut are happy together. Lalita later becomes a revolutionary, one day she comes to Kanchan`s house in disguise as a Sadhvi (Hindu Nun) and lives there, only Kanchan knows who she is. Jaya comes under hot spell and one night runs away with Lalita to join the movement. Kanchan gives birth to a daughter that day. She has two sons already. On learning about Jaya, Kanchan`s father-in-law loses his mental balance and stops talking to anybody. Amrut is livid with Kanchan when he comes to know about who Lalita was and blames her. They are getting over all these tragedies somehow, when suddenly comes the news of Partition of the country. Amrut tells Kanchan to go to India with his father and the children and also her father and brother. He himself plans to go to Kenya and take them there when he settles down. But her father and brother die when their house is burnt down in the riots; her eldest son who has all the money hidden inside his clothes, gets lost in the mob on the part, never to be found again. Heartbroken and almost peeniless, she is travelling on the ship when her father-in-law jumps one night into the sea and drowns. She arrives in India with two young children and is living in a tent on the seashore temporarily, when she is raped. She somehow arrives in the village where she lived as a child where she gets a broken down house to live. How does she survive? How does she start earning a livelihood and educating the children? What happens when she realises she is pregnant again. Who was the father? Amrut or the man who raped her? A son is born but with a disability. His one foot is twisted. The novel tells the story of Kanchan`s life till she in 78 and is once again all alone and almost penniless, not knowing where she is going to live. What happens in the many years in between to the three children and what happens to Amrut? Why is Kanchan alone again? The novel holds your interest right through, leaving you admiring the spirited Kanchan.
२००३चा उत्तम गुजराती कादंबरीचा साहित्य अकादमी पुरस्कार मिळालेली हृदयस्पर्शी कादंबरी– ‘अक्षयपात्र’.‘तसं पाहिलं, तर सर्व लढायांच्या मुळाशी भीतीच असते. माणसाला सर्वप्रथम जेव्हा भीती वाटली असेल, तेव्हा ह्या भीतीपोटीच त्याला शस्त्र तयार करण्याची प्रेरणा मिळाली असेल. जिथं प्रेम असेल, विश्वास असेल, तिथंच निर्भयता असणं शक्य.’
–‘लहान लहान गोष्टींसाठी आसुसलेल्या मुलांचे डोळे आणि रिकामे हात बघायला जेवढी हिंमत लागते, त्यापेक्षा फार कमी हिंमत लागते आत्महत्या करायला!’
–‘अडचणींना तोंड देता येतं ते भावना आणि प्रेमामुळेच! बेटा, पणती असते, वातही असते; पण तेल नसेल, तर त्यांचा काही उपयोग नाही.’
–‘मी एक स्त्री आहे. एका एवढ्याशा गवताच्या काडीलाही घरटं मानून जगायची शक्ती आहे माझ्यामध्ये, म्हणूनच तर निसर्गानं मला आई होऊ शकण्याचं वरदान दिलंय.’
–‘अगदी एकटं असण्याच्या ओझ्याखाली इतकं काही वाकून जायला होतं, की कधी कधी माणूस हातातलं वल्हं टाकून देतो आणि वारा नेईल तिकडे होडी जाऊ देतो; पण मग किनारा, की भोवरा?– त्याच्या हातात काहीच राहिलेलं नसतं.’
–‘अंधुक उजेडात कंचनबांना अशा उभ्या बघून वाटतच नव्हतं, की त्यांचा त्या घराशी काही संबंध होता! त्या जणू एक अशा वृक्ष होत्या, जो उन्मळून पडला होता आणि कशाच्या तरी नाममात्र आधारानं त्याचं लावूâड उभं होतं. त्या वृक्षाला पक्कं ठाऊक होतं, की हा आधारही क्षणिक होता!’