Cupidity-Ping Me, Love | Kiran Rai and Madhvi Ahuja
Close friends Tara, a much-married woman; Naina, recently divorced, and Nihal, a transgender, are looking to breathe free in a conventional society. Successful urban professionals, they live the good life, or so it seems. Trapped in unfulfilling relationships, each one craves an understanding companion. In search of an emotional connect, the three explore their deepest selves in the gripping world of online dating and chat rooms. As they get drawn deeper into the vortex of online chatting, the virtual reality threatens to overshadow their ordinary, mundane existence, and the idea of self-exploration laced with transgression, takes root. Tara wishes to cast aside the shackles of domesticity and tradition to explore all that is taboo. Naina takes baby steps towards her independence. Nihal faces a terrible struggle about the revelation of his secret to the world. Cupidity—Ping Me, Love is a tale of three lonely souls who reinvent themselves in the virtual world, breaking all social norms, without an inkling of the final outcome. Born and brought up in Uganda, East Africa, Kiren migrated to India in her early teens. She has been a newspaper reporter, college lecturer, media relations specialist and an e-content writer. She has written The Sacred Indian Tarot, a beautiful hand-drawn deck of tarot cards with twenty-two Major Arcana cards, combining the traditional elements of the tarot with a rich tapestry of Indian mythology and culture. Kiren promotes upcoming and contemporary art, bringing together different mediums, cultural hues and individual styles from across the globe. Madhvi comes from a business management and stock-broking background. A lifelong passion for writing, two creative writing courses at the University of Oxford and at NYU, translated into a dream entrepreneurial venture—her very own start-up firm, ‘The Writer’s Web.’ She provides content writing solutions for corporates and other professionals. Madhvi is into fitness and is a trained Muay Thai fighter. She also has an immense love for dogs, especially her golden lab, Maximus. Cupidity—Ping Me, Love is the first novel she has co-authored.