Title Of The Book : Half A Century

The four come together as they are regular customers at a quaint café, in a local mall. They were all born in the same year – 1970. They are in their late 40s and even though they come from diverse backgrounds, the friendship strikes.

Shikha, who hails from the small town of Jaipur, moved to Bombay after her marriage to Vivek. The marriage was arranged by her family after they found out about her love affair with a classmate from a different caste.

Shikha and Vivek are a happily married couple to the world with their only son Twesh. But Vivek is yet to get over his unrequited love for Vandana, his classmate from college.

After spending decades in a loveless marriage with Vivek, Shikha gets the shock of her life when she finds out about her husband’s extra marital affair, during the torturous lockdown.

Chitra is a happy-go-lucky girl from Pune and is the pampered child of the family. She gets married to Pankaj, who is well settled in Mumbai with a decent job. Pankaj is a tall and handsome boy who falls in love with the chubby Chitra during their first meeting at a coffee shop.

Their love blossoms in the first few months of marriage and is put to test when after several years of trying Chitra is unable to conceive. A couple of attempts at IVF also fail and before she could slip into depression, Chitra is brought back to being her chirpy self by Pankaj, who loves her unconditionally.

Raised in a progressive household, Mahima is a fiercely independent and career-driven woman. She chooses the unusual profession of
cinematography and decides to give it her all to make a career out of it. During her studies at the prestigious FTII she meets Kabeer and they fall in love.

The couple’s penchant for travel and adventure costs Kabeer his life. Mahima loses him in an unfortunate road accident.

Mahima is introduced to the world of online dating by her nephew Shivansh. Will she find love again?

Author Bio

Megha Manchanda is a journalist with over 15 years of work experience. She is currently working with ET Infra, the digital portal by The Economic Times. She has worked with the leading financial daily Business Standard and organizations including the Press Trust of India. Her work provided her the opportunity to travel across the globe, which in turn strengthened her world view. She has also travelled extensively within the country and written ground reports on general elections and various government schemes. Her interactions, in the years spent in media, have been extremely enriching as she worked with people from all over India, in various newsrooms. Her love for reading and writing can be gauged from her effort to make time for both her passions, along with her demanding work schedule. She is an avid reader and is passionate about cinema.