The question of 'what happens after death' is what Shakuntala Hawoldar explores in this breathtaking piece of work. The author invites you to experience and live another mystical and spiritual dimension, and to submerge yourself in the deep and revealing story of 'Nachiketas'. Shakuntala Hawoldar has undertaken the terrifying and yet liberating task of confronting her own death for the benefit of us all. Death is a 'kind of growth', she says in her book 'Nachiketas'. 'Growth means intelligence and intelligence means the Light of Consciousness'. This is when the author grabs our attention. Growth, Maturity and Intelligence all finally mean love and compassion for the other, whoever it may be, because 'the other' is also part of our mutual consciousness and growth. These are eternal messages in this book which tell us unequivocally that 'YOU' are true and immortal. The journey of life is clearly one from lower animality to a higher and greater spirituality. This involves a humanness which consists of Wisdom, Strength and Kindness which Silos speaks of. Silo, an Argentinian mystic, reminds us that if we don't live by this magic triangle of goodness, we would only be mere pariahs and outcasts in the world of humans, struggling and striving for a better life.

Shakuntala Hawoldar was born in Bombay, India on September 15, 1944. She lives in Mauritius where she settled in 1968 with her husband and children. Her husband passed on in 1989. She presently stays in Mauritius with her son Siddharth and family. She is an educationist of long standing and a well-known poet and short story writer in Mauritius and abroad. She has published several collections of poems in English which have been translated into French, Russian, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. She is presently the president of the Mauritian Writers Association, dedicated to building budding literary talents in Mauritius notwithstanding the extremely complex nature of the cultural linguistic landscape. She also is the president of Women's Federation for World Peace which is an international non-governmental agency promoting educational and social interests of youth and adolescents in Mauritius fostering and counseling parents and teachers. She has been running the Osho meditation center at her residence for many years opening doors to young and old, seeking the truth of vedanta of oneness of unity, love and peace.

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