Three Days of Catharsis  (Paperback, Atrayee Bhattacharya)

The story revolves around the reminiscences of Katyayani Krishnan, an NRI girl from Singapore, who comes to IIM Kolkata on a student exchange program. She is born to a Bengali mother and a Tamil Iyer father. A sarcastic interactive session with two IIM officials needles her to start questioning her identity. Furthermore, when her maternal grandfather introduces her to the norms of a patriarchal society, she reminisces about several incidents where her parents pedantically make her understand that she is a cultural blend and unique. Her cathartic journey continues when she meets her gamophobic cousin, Thia. A series of conversations makes Katyayani to reveal the nitty-gritties of an intercultural family, her learning process to speak a multitude of languages, how God provided her a channel to start eating non-vegetarian food, and most importantly her fun-filled journey amidst the behavioral and cultural differences between her bloodlines. The story continues with her past chequered love life with a Bengali cultural bigot, Sudhanshu, marking an attendance in her present. Amidst the god-fearing family members, Katyayani reveals her open relationship with God and her concept of spirituality to Thia. Even after knowing the minutiae of her life when Thia still questions her identity, she finds her mind free from befuddlement. She defines the true meaning of culture to Thia, she declares her accomplishments as her virtue and she redefines her identity as an outcome of true love and a cultural blend. This book is an effort to bring about the monumental change in humanity to grow and survive as homo sapiens and not to cling on to a particular language or culture to define ourselves.