Green Boy and Stories of Other Creators

Book excerpt: The book is about eight fired-up young Indian men and women. Their vision of excellence, coupled with their creativity, persistence, and indomitable spirit, helps them emerge as unique individuals. They overcome obstacles in their path, including their own mental blocks. They come from diverse backgrounds, representative of the diversity of contemporary India. One of them is a domestic servant, another is from a lower middle-class family, the third belongs to the family of an academician, the fourth comes from an extremely orthodox Brahmin family, the fifth is of mixed Indian-Canadian descent, and so forth. Their personalities are as diverse as their backgrounds. But what they share in common is grit, the spirit of innovation, a humane concern for others, and the desire to extend the limits of their being. Their achievements are also diverse. One becomes the discoverer of consciousness in plants; another transforms a society a thousand years hence; the third sets up a school to foster creativity in children; the fourth becomes an outstanding painter; the fifth, a highly innovative farmer; the sixth, a pioneer of organ transplants; the seventh, a pioneer of colours distilled from rocks; and the eighth triumphs over her ingrained fear of ghosts to become a counselor who heals wounded beings. These scintillating stories are written in a simple style but with arresting images. They are spiced with action and racy dialogues that make them highly engrossing.