The Rummy Club

The Rummy Club is a contemporary women's novel about the intertwined fates of four women from India . They met in their teen years at an all-girls’ boarding high school, nestled in the Himalayas . Now in their 40's, the lives of Mini, Divya, Alka, and Priya have brought each of them to the SF Bay Area. Sharing secrets since their teenage years, they reunite, and gather weekly to play the Indianized version of rummy. The novel provides a snapshot of the Indian diaspora in the context of 21st century America.

The book tells the story of four Indian women bound by decades of friendship: Alka, a child of privilege and power; Mini, a beauty and a flirt; Priya, a nurturing earth mother; and Divya, who is insecure and envious of her friends. Now in their 40s and living in California, they find comfort and support in their weekly games of rummy—even as their private lives begin to unravel. In her younger years, Alka, the self-appointed leader of the group, was pressured into marrying a wealthy man whom she loathes in order to save her family’s failing business. As a result, she turned all of her attention to her son, Krishna, becoming an obsessive and overbearing mother in the process. As usual, her three friends adjust to her version of reality. But each has her own difficulties as well: Mini’s beloved husband dies unexpectedly; Priya catches her husband cheating; and Divya feels increasingly envious of her companions’ financial stability. When Alka’s son lapses into a coma after a suicide attempt, her fabricated world shatters like glass. Mini, Priya, and Divya band together to support her, but a misunderstanding threatens to dissolve the foursome when they need each other most. It will take more than a game of rummy to repair the most important friendships of their lives.

I'm a blogger and author, a litigator in another lifetime, a former aerobics instructor and a fitness enthusiast. I've lived in the San Francisco-Bay Area, for the past 23 years. As an Indian-American writer, my goal is to discuss the diaspora of Indian people in the context of twenty-first century America. I earned my BA in English literature from Delhi University and my JD from John F. Kennedy University. My first book, "Law: What It's All About and How to Get In" was published by Twenty-Twenty Media, a publishing company in New Delhi, India, that brought out a series of 'Dummies' style books in the 90's about different careers open to college graduates. I serve as Legal Advisor for Home of Hope, Inc, a charitable organization that supports more than 2000 destitute, orphaned and otherwise disadvantaged children in India and the U.S. I've been featured in many Indian publications and magazines (India-West, India-Post etc.) for the work I do with said charity. I've also made made several appearances on satellite television, such as T.V. Asia, Womennow, and, Sitaara T.V. with regard to the same. You may also recognize me from Womennow's (Star Plus T.V.) Role Model fashion show, May 2012.