(This is a collection of short stories, poems and a novella dealing with the strife of ordinary people spanning different cultures in diverse lands like Korea, Vietnam, Uganda, Ukraine, Bosnia, India and the United States. How adversity molds people and sometimes, brings on an acceptance of what life offers, a virtue called human resilience. The characters move through war events, personal tragedy and cultural handcuffs in different stories...like a child in India whose birthday plans are interrupted by the bombing of Hiroshima; young men in war zones like Iraq and Vietnam thinking of their loved ones; youth longing to get away to foreign lands. Tradition and old age bring on different challenges to the men and women in these tales. The stories are written in a simple voice, authentic to the characters. These people will dwell on your psyche long after you have finished the book. The different scenarios in various lands are thought-provoking. Some light hearted moments of poetry bring relief to the serious mind. Included is a poem by the author's granddaughter, Kaveri Sheth, age 11, when she wrote it two years ago. It leaves one with a pleasant musical interlude bringing harmony to the relentless active mind.

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