Storm in Chandigarh

by Nayantara Sahgal

'India, once a uniform piece of territory to administer, was now a welter of separate, sensitive identities, resurrected after independence.' As the quarrel over boundaries, water and electric power between Punjab and the newly created Haryana intensifies, Gyan Singh, the chief minister of Punjab, threatens to launch a crippling strike that will affect both states. With the chief minister of Haryana, Harpal Singh, refusing to concede any advantages, the stage is set for a confrontation. It is at this point that Vishal Dubey, the Centre's most able bureaucrat, is sent to Chandigarh to alleviate the situation. As he tries to resolve the chaos in the common capital, Vishal finds himself drawn into the lives of two couples--Jit and Mara and Inder and Saroj--and the small dramas and casual betrayals that are a universal feature of human relationships. Storm in Chandigarh demonstrates Nayantara Sahgal's keen understanding of individual relationships and her remarkable ability to tell stories