It Happened That Night: A tale of love, falsity and murder

New Delhi, Feb 14 (UNI) Tales of love and deceit, choosing between love and career and the like are not eccentric, still every story is able to interest people with as much thrill and excitement.

Joining as a link to such stories is 'It Happened That Night', a tale that subtly touches the strings of human emotions which gets entangled in confusions over tempted professionalism and repercussions of pressure.

Written by first-time author Akash Verma, a management graduate currently working in a media company, the novel is an extensive piece of fictional writing.

Noted Irish writer Oscar Wilde had once said, ''There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love''. The author has tried to put forth an example of his understanding of the same.

Verma has used rich style of fiction to highlight the inherent attributes of satanic clashes of ego, work pressure, compromises, struggle with truth, grievances and not to forget, the side-effects of life of 21st century.

''The message that the book conveys is 'Speak up and create a change'. I have tried to focus on the psyche and mindset of Indian middle class that impacts the socio-economic and political dynamics of the country,'' he says.

Verma explains, ''Metros are the first one to diagnose and bear the brunt of this dangerous syndrome. Some visible scars are murders, rapes and arson in broad daylight. ''

The novel is a journey of a 28-yr-old modern Indian professional working in a Multi-national Company and is caught in between the maze of love, a high-end job and the witness to a cold-blooded murder of a colleague.

The story takes the reader to the year 2002 when Gujarat, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi who is a synonym for non-violence, along with the entire country, was pushed back into global obscurity due to grisly riots that spread across the land.

''Chandan Mathur, the protagonist, realises and decodes life in its various human forms in the city of Ahmedabad. As his life takes him to various harsh and pleasant phases of life, he tries to find an answer to if he should listen to his own conscience or succumb to somebody else's demand,'' the writer says.