Aunties Of Vasant Kunj by Anuradha Marwah [Paperback]

Three women try Buddhist chanting, activism and fermented drinks of various kinds to make sense of their fast-changing worlds.

Shailaja, abandoned but lovelorn, wistfully teaching romance in a Delhi University college; Mrs Gandhi, plump and garrulous, dedicated to providing endless cups of tea and plates of biskut to all and sundry; and firebrand Dini, ensconced in her idyllic female world; they simply cannot see eye to eye.

But suddenly, their lives take unexpected turns. A lecherous boss, a cheating husband and a completely unsuitable but irresistible lover make them seek out each other. Will Vasant Kunj, with its tight shared spaces, unlawfully occupied pathways and perennial water and electricity crises, provide intersections for unlikely friendships? Or will they continue to collide at Aunty Point, where they’ve all been cast ashore?

Fun, witty and unputdownable, Aunties of Vasant Kunj offers a hilarious peek into middle-class Delhi and how women navigate conflicting identities and desires at almost forty, while liable to be still a little naughty.