Jewel-less Crown
Subtitle: Saga of Life
Publisher: Self Imprint
Published: 2004
Place of publication: India
First sentence: That New Year's Eve, all the nouveau riche of New Delhi seemed to have gathered at the Misty Nest in their ubiquitous wear. While women wore designer dresses, men turned up in safari suits. Hosting them at their grand dwelling in the Defense Colony were the Gautams, Prabhu and Sneha. By the time the last guest was hugged in welcome, Gautam’s silk kurta and Sneha’s mink coat were truly crumpled. Augmenting the warmth of their bonhomie was the Glenfiddich with soda. In time, while the lure of the Scotch drove many into the lap of Bacchus, the allure of Venus enticed others to ogle at the desirable. But, above all, it was Gautam’s good-humored banter and Sneha’s sensuous charm that lent aura to that midnight rendezvous.
Description: It's perilous penning this blurb. 
It's fine when man is modest about his work. 
It even affords him the aura of an invisible crown! 
But what about his work? 
Were it an art or craft, it is there for all to see. 
What of a literary work of an unheralded author? 
Well, lauding the same might raise one's eyebrows. 
Failing to praise wouldn't make a 'jewel-less crown' either! 
Why not see, if this is the great Indian novel.
This is the story of the rise and fall of an ambitious man, the decline, and the decay of his conniving wife, the trials, and tribulations of their wayward son as well as the grit and gall of a spirited woman, who enters into his life. 
This depiction of their life and times not only pictures the facets of ambition and achievement, intrigue and betrayal, compulsion and compromise, sleaze and scandal, trial and sentence, but also portrays the possibilities of repentance and resolution, love and empathy coupled with compassion and contribution, leading to the spirituality of materialism, and that makes it the saga of our times.
The story of a lifetime, truly.
Table of contents: title: Book One, Artha and Kama,; title: 1. Party Gone Sour; title: 2. Trauma at Tihar; title: 3. Mind of the Maligned; title: 4. Twist at Tis-Hazari; title: 5. Trial in Camera; title: 6. Dilemma of Qualms; title: 7. Moment of Reckoning; title: 8. End within end; title: 9. Vestiges of Prestige; title: 10. High on Rebound; title: 11. Bellows of Delhi; title: 12. Dicing with Life; title: 13. Spidering Spadework; title: 14. Loss to Order; title: 15. Daring the Fate; title: 16. Victims of Deceit; title: 17. Baring the Soul; title: 18. Garland of Guilt.; title: Book Two, Dharma and Moksha; title: 1. Bliss of Being; title: 2. Collage of Crime; title: 3. Domain of the Devil; title: 4. Renaissance of Life; title: 5. Sprouts of Love; title: 6. Despair of Hope; title: 7. Turn at the Bend; title: 8. Amity of Empathy; title: 9. Day to Remember; title: 10. Spirituality of Materialism; title: 11. Sense of Reincarnation; title: 12. Epilogue.