Nandita Chakraborty has remarkable tale of survival. In 2011, Nandita fell 40 metres during a horrific rock climbing accident which left her with a traumatic brain injury resulting in a cognitive disability. For people with a cognitive disability is it common to have problems with attention, concentration, speech and language, learning and memory, reasoning, planning and problem-solving.
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Nandita became aware of the severity of her disability when in 2016, she found herself on a Melbourne street with no memory of who or where she was. Later that year she also lost her job and experienced the death of her father and by the end of 2016 Nandita found herself homeless and relying on the generosity of friends for shelter. However, it was the death of her father that shook her completely and drove her back to her first love, writing.
Meera Rising tells the story of Meera but not the Meera bai of the 16th century. This is a modern Meera. The main characters are Meera, Krishna and Brian.
Meera Rising is a book about love. The book flies in the face of traditional Indian taboos and gender roles with Meera taking charge of not only her own life but her sexuality as well. It also pays homage to the Australian way of life and is an ode, by an immigrant, to the life that is offered here as well as a reminder of the importance of one’s culture. With this book Nandita hopes to remind her fellow Indian ex-pats about the beauty of Indian mythology by bringing it to life in the 21st century.
“Love makes the world move around, Love binds us all”, says the effervescent Nandita.
