The Broken Thorns

This is the story of a dancer Noorbai at the Moghul Court, who with her matchless beauty and artistic accomplishments, had captivated the hearts of the Moghul Emperor Muhammad Shah and the infamous invader Nadir Shah who had taken a fancy to take her along on his way back to Iran. However, Noorbai made up her mind not to leave her country. The realistic picture of the agony of the country in the grip of disruption and unrest, serves as a backdrop to the romantic love between Noorbai and Mohan-a Jat guard and a commoner, the latter making the secret and dramatic escape, from the Red Fort, of the former possible. Mohan, the Jat hero of the novel is a remarkable common man who leads Noorbai to elevate and sublimate her life at Vrindavan by singing devotional songs addressed to Lord Krishna. Noorbai with her transformed spirit finally symbolises the magic touch of the liberal Hindu philosophy of adjustment and assimilation, without whose operation the broken thorns of divisiveness sticking deep into our body politic, even now in the present turbulent times, cannot be dislodged or dissolved easily to make us a united nation i.e. India of our vision. Her self-abnegation in throwing gold and jewellery into the river Yamuna re-establishes that spiritual values are supreme in life.