It's All in the Planets

When 26-year-old Ayan is sent to live with his grumpy old grandfather Gopal Shanker in a tiny village in Kerala, he is understandably devastated. What can a sleepy, idyllic village without even internet connectivity offer a young man?

It’s the mid-’90s. Studious, smart and sincere, Veda harbours big dreams for the future. But her parents arrange a marriage for her, and the 20-year-old discovers she has no say in the matter. Forced to leave behind an idyllic life in the hill town of Joshimath - filled with conversations and pleasurable times with her siblings and her best friend, the handsome Suraj - she puts aside her ambitions and moves into a flat in Pune with an indifferent husband and a mother-in-law from hell. Though brought up to be quiet and obedient, Veda chafes at the meaninglessness of her existence.

When Vipasha, Vee to friends, 18 and single, makes the decision to have her baby, she does more than give up her promising modelling career. She ends up cutting ties with her family and with Ankush, the man she thought she was in love with. Fast-forward 16 years, and she now has two unusual careers: she runs a dog-boarding facility and is a gym instructor. Aryan thinks she is the coolest mom in the world and hopes she will one day find her Prince Charming - exactly what her best friend, Suchi, has in mind for her.

Ankita has fought a mental disorder, been through hell and survived two suicide attempts. Now in Mumbai, surrounded by her loving and supportive parents, everything seems idyllic. She is not on medication. She is in a college she loves, studying her dream subject: creative writing. She has made friends with the bubbly Parul and the glamourous Janki. At last leading a ‘normal life’, she immerses herself in every bit of it - the classes, her friends, her course and all the carefree fun of college. Underneath the surface, however, there is trouble brewing.

There is nothing really wrong with Priya Bakshi and Akash Srivastav's six-year-old marriage...except that Priya is having an affair. And Akash, too, seems to be on the lookout for sexual adventure. When Tarun, their richer, older, and manipulative friend, tells them about Delhi's couple-swapping parties, Akash wants to jump right in. With some reluctance, Priya agrees to give him company. Soon, Akash and Priya find themselves in a world of swinging couples and sexual abandon, joined by friends who are equally keen to test the the waters.  

At 16 Diksha, like any girl her age, finds her life revolving around school, boys and endless hours of fun with her best friend. But one day all that changes. What starts as an innocent crush explodes into something far beyond her control. Eighteen years later she finds herself at the crossroads of life. Urged by a twist of events, a wish list is born. But can a wish list help her piece her life back together? Will she succumb to the tangled mess of an extramarital relationship?

Ankita Sharma has the world at her feet. She is young, good-looking and smart and has tonnes of friends and boys swooning over her. College life is what every youngster dreams of, and she also manages to get into a premier management school for her MBA. Six months later she is a patient in a mental health hospital. How did Ankita get here? What were the events that led to this? Will she ever get back her life again? Life has cruelly and coldly snatched that which meant the most to her, and she must now fight to get it all back.

Ajay believes in living for himself; Bhavna teaches him to live for others. Ajay is a planner for life; Bhavna makes him live in every moment. You are the Best Wife is a story of two people with contradictory ideologies who fall in love. It changes them for good. It changes the way they look at the world and the way the world looks at them. Until destiny reveals its plans.

His father's overexpectations only ruined his self-confidence further with each failure. A ray of hope walked into his life as his wife, a charismatic personality spreading joy wherever she went. Everything is going per plan, but darkness comes knocking soon. He finds out that she does not have much time to live and takes it upon himself to fight all odds - even his family, if need be - to help her fight her medical condition. His father sees his own redemption in helping them.

Ronnie knew that his first crush was way out of his league, and yet he pursued and wooed Adira. Shyly and from a distance in the beginning, and more persuasively later. He couldn't believe it when the beautiful Adira actually began to reciprocate, falling in love with him for his simplicity and honesty. Slowly, as they get close and comfortable with each other, life took on another hue. From truly magical it became routine. There were fights and then making-up sessions - a clash of egos and doubts.

Keshav has set up an investigation agency with his best friend, Saurabh. Can the two amateur detectives successfully solve another murder case that affects them personally? And where will it leave their friendship? 

Some of the best relationships that exist in this world are nameless ones. They crouch behind those sanctioned by society: the legitimate ones, the ones that you can define because they are approved, allowed, understood and normal. In this finely crafted short story, Preeti Shenoy examines one of these ‘nameless relationships’, peeling back the layers of complexities that underlie marriage, love, desire - and the many grey zones that lie between two people.

Justice Laxmi Narayan Thakur and his wife, Mamta, spend their days watching anxiously over their five beautiful (but troublesome) alphabetically named daughters. Anjini, married but an incorrigible flirt; Binodini, very worried about her children's hissa in the family property; Chandrakanta, who eloped with a foreigner on the eve of her wedding; Eshwari, who is just a little too popular at Modern School, Barakhamba Road; and the judge's favourite (though fathers shouldn t have favourites): the quietly fiery Debjani.

Once upon a time, there was an intelligent boy called Vidoy. And there was a beautiful girl called Dibisha. They met under the Virgin tree. He was not her cup of tea. But very soon they became close friends. He fell in love with her. But he could never say. And she never thought about him in that way. For her, he was just an average looking boy. She can do all nonsense before him. She doesn't feel odd. He can hold her hand while crossing the road. But they are "just friends".

A new job beckons Shanaya to Bangalore. Her bags are packed, and she is all set for the new life. But she wants to pamper herself and enjoy, coz it’s her last day in Delhi, where she has spent some really good times. She is out exploring when she bumps into a stranger; he sweeps her off her feet with his magnetic charm, way with words and a well-chiseled body. What’s the harm of having a good time, she wonders! After all, she’d be gone the next day - no strings attached. While she gets adventurous, she barely knows what life is planning to throw at her.