Shobhan Bantwal
Book Discussion Questions

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

In your author's note you give a brief history of selective abortion of female fetuses in India. Why does the culture persist in holding such outdated beliefs about a girl child being a burden? Do you think it will ever change?

India is a male-oriented society where boys have been revered as assets while girls have been looked upon as liabilities for many centuries. For some reason, despite India's modernization in every sense, it seems to linger. This is because it is typically the son who takes care of his parents in their old age and any other family members who need tending, whereas girls are expected to get married and go away, become a part of someone else's family.

Also, sons bring in a dowry, so they are bringers of wealth, while girls are given a dowry and therefore are a drain on their families' resources. Sons carry on the family name and traditions; girls cannot do that. And lastly, an antiquated Hindu belief is that unless a son performs the last rites, a deceased parent's soul cannot go to heaven.

For all the above reasons, Indian society is obsessed with male children, and sometimes is willing to go to the extreme of aborting a female fetus.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Are any of your characters or their stories based on anyone you know in real life?

None of my characters are based on anyone I know. All of them are a product of my imagination. However, some of them have qualities that are reminiscent of people I have grown up with. The stern, unbending father, the dedicated and kind pediatrician, the obstetrician who is willing to break the law out of greed - all these characters have one or two traits that I have borrowed from real people.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Isha is a woman from an affluent family and therefore not used to living a hard life. Yet, she so smoothly transitions from her riches to rags when it becomes necessary. Is this a testimony to what any mother would do for her children or is it simply because Isha herself is a strong woman?

I think it is a combination of the two. Despite her compliance with the conservative ways of her family, she is a woman with a strong sense of independence, righteousness, and courage. When she feels her daughters' lives might be threatened and the girls would need her to defend them from the grandparents' double standards, she throws both her comfortable lifestyle as well as caution aside and decides to face life on her own. I also think Isha's actions are a testimony to the mothers of the world, women who will do most anything to protect their children.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

In the story, Isha wonders how her husband and sister-in-law, two good and thoughtful people, could have come from their parents who show themselves to be cold and heartless. Are Baba and Ayee really as awful as they seem or do they act a certain way because of their age and upbringing?

I believe Ayee and Baba are inherently decent folks, not really bad at heart. But they are products of their upbringing and the small-town society they live in. In their minds, abortion is a harmless and convenient tool to get rid of an unwanted female child and perhaps try for a male heir. Towards the end of the story, they do seem to recognize the error of their ways and begin to atone for their despicable behavior.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Isha didn't seem to have any friends, even when she was rich. But she is such an energetic, intelligent woman. Why isn't she a part of a social circle?

I have portrayed Isha as somewhat reticent by nature, even while she was a student in college. As a private person, she is a bit of a loner. Her only reason for having any kind of social life at all is because she is married into a family with an active social life. When she is desperate to make ends meet, she prefers to work with small children rather than look for any other kind of work. When she takes up another occupation later, it is again something that allows her to work in private.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Harish is a good man from a good family. Why doesn't he find love before reconnecting with Isha?

Harish has been too busy trying to build up a medical practice, and he loves his work so much that he does not think to look for anything more. He has not felt the need for marriage or companionship. It is only after he sees Isha once again, a girl he used to have a crush on when they were both students in college, that he begins to feel there is something vital lacking in his life. He starts to recognize his need for love and marriage and family. I am a hopeless romantic, and I call it karma, the fact that Harish and Isha are destined to meet.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

I was definitely surprised by the murder and kidnapping aspect of this story. Do you think that a doctor like Karnik would go to such extreme lengths to conceal his illegal practices?

Greed has no boundaries. At times, it can suspend commonsense and even strict moral values. And as in the case of Karnik, he does not start out as an evil man, but the lure of easy money sucks him into a web of illegal actions, lies, and eventually even murder, although the killing and kidnapping are byproducts of certain other actions, which he takes to protect himself. He ends up becoming his own worst enemy as one thing leads to another and his life spins out of control. But what it proves is the age-old adage: what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Who is your favorite character in the story? I'm partial to Shelia. I respected the way she stepped up and promised to honor her brother's memory by helping his wife and children find stability. Would many women in India do this even if it went against what their parents wanted?

I admire Sheila for her rare courage, but Harish is my favorite character in the story. I enjoyed building the layers that made up his personality. Much of his dedication to his work and his love of medicine is based on my own father's traits. My father was a small-town ophthalmologist who worked seven days a week for very little money, with rarely a vacation or a break of any kind. He used to do what Harish did, go to the schools and inoculate poor kids against childhood diseases for free. He never retired. In fact, the day he died of a massive heart attack at the relatively young age of 68, he had put in a full day of work in his beloved medical office. For our family it was heartbreaking, but from his point of view, it was the ideal death. He always wanted to die while he was still a working man.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

If you could give aspiring writers one piece of advice, what would it be?

I would say start writing on a small and modest scale, like articles and/or short stories, and later, when you have built up a reputation and improved your writing, then start to write full-length novels or memoirs or whatever. That is the way I started my writing career.

And never give up on your writing dreams. I almost gave up on mine many, many times, when my manuscript was rejected by agents and editors, but I eventually brushed the dust off and tried it again.

Book Discussion Questions for Author Shobhan Bantwal

Do you have plans to write another novel?

Yes, my publisher has offered me another contract. My third novel will hopefully be published sometime next year. My editor and I rolling some ideas around for this third book.

Because of my deep interest in women's issues, I have picked October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, to assist in a fundraiser for ASHA for WOMEN, a Washington DC non-profit organization that assists South Asian victims of domestic violence. I donate to a number of such organizations around the U.S. At the ASHA fundraiser, I will be selling copies of my latest novel, The Forbidden Daughter, whose theme is female fetus abortions in India . I plan to donate all profits from book sales to ASHA.



For more information about Shobhan Bantwal's virtual tour, visit - Virtual Blog Tour, Shobhan Bantwal