Heart-Rending Times

WHAT CAN’T BE LEFT UNSAID

While writing nine novels in a row during the eighties and early nineties of the last century, I knew I was chronicling the impact of abrupt changes in all aspects of life around me caused by the flood of science and technology after World War II. These nine novels were in fact constituted by three clusters, each of which was in turn formed by three individual titles – all thematically connected. The third and last cluster tells the story of Arjun the revolutionary, his relatives and friends. Birds That Fly Ahead is the first of the three; Heart-Rending Times is the second, and Now for a Tearful Smile the last of what has since been called the ‘Arjun Trilogy’. All three, complete in themselves as independent narrations as well, have run into very many reprints and earned critical acclaim. The publication of the translation of this title makes the complete trilogy universally accessible.
While putting it up on the global counter, I have examined each of its components over and again. They have only become more relevant with the passage of time. We are falling more and more behind the prophets and the visionaries – the birds that fly ahead. As a result, we have more heart-rending experiences per life. A lasting smile is long overdue, most welcome even if it turns out to be tearful! 
- C. Radhakrishnan