The Closet Drinker: An Inspirational Story
The Closet Drinker: An Inspirational Story
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English

"When Ragini Krishnan becomes pregnant for the second time, she thinks she's finally going to give her husband the son they both desperately want.

But she gives birth to yet another unwanted female child, who she names Uma. "I should have strangled you when you were born," she later tells her daughter.

Raised by a governess and Irish Catholic nuns in a private boarding school, Uma despises her privileged education, and she's a dismal failure at relationships.

When Uma places an advertisement for a job, she's offered a position by Nicholas Alexander, a divorced American writer. She goes to Bombay and meets him for a curry date.

Three years later, the rebellious Uma succumbs to her attraction to the dashing American and marries him. She bears him a son, but settling down doesn't fix her problems,and she starts drinking secretly.

One day she takes her son and leaves, destroying everything she has so diligently worked for and successfully built. She becomes homeless and her son confronts her about her drinking problem.

Set against the backdrop of India's national movement for independence, this is an unforgettable, inspirational story that shows love can conquer all.

English

After her retirement in May, 2015 as a Senior Information Security Professional supporting the organization’s Cyber Security and FISMA compliance program, Mahendri Arundale published her first novel The Closet Drinker (2017) under her pseudonym Rani.

Born in the beautiful beach town of Vishakhapatnam in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, she received a Master of Arts degree in Western History from the University of Lucknow before she moved to Southern California in the early seventies with her American husband. Mahendri worked at a West Los Angeles law firm, a real estate broker, and also taught Cuisine of India part-time at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), University Extension Department of the Arts. She gave private cooking lessons and cooking demonstrations at the UCLA Campus in Westwood and at The Epicure Shop in Neiman Marcus, Beverly Hills to promote their products.

The author of two cookbooks, Feast of India: A Legacy of Fables and Recipes (1991, 2015) and India’s Unsurpassed Cuisine: The Art of Indian Curry Cooking (2016, Editor's Choice), Rani attests “Curry awakens the mind, arouses the senses, and makes us energetic and cheerful.” Masterfully adapted for use in American kitchens, her cookbooks are a simple “How To” guide for preparing authentic Indian cuisine and include a dazzling repertoire of authentic, delicious, healthy, and easy-to-prepare recipes of diverse flavors from India’s ancient and distinguished culinary heritage. She has a popular cooking blog and posts her recipes regularly on social media to bring awareness that “the spices and herbs utilized in curry making are Nature's gift to us. They are the heating and cooling energy specialists of the body and aid the digestive process in keeping balance and harmony.”

Mahendri is completing her last cookbook Food Heals that deals with the healing aspects of foods with special emphasis on India’s ancient healing system Ayurveda (science of life: body, mind, and spirit). Also on the publishing radar screen is an illustrated story book of Mr. Cashmere, a scrawny, unwanted 10-week old Himalayan kitten that her four little grandkids insisted she adopt fourteen years ago.

Mahendri lives in Maryland close to her son, daughter-in-law and five grandchildren and enjoys traveling, reading, history, cooking, old movies, music, the theater, museums, and writes information security-related articles for a senior community newsletter.

English

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Hindu-Muslim Connection
Chapter 2 Christian Connection
Chapter 3 American Connection
Chapter 4 Hollywood Connection
Chapter 5 Spiritual Connection
Chapter 6 World Citizen

Author's Note
References

Exhibited At: International book fairs

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