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 "We
are not human beings seeking spiritual
experience, but spiritual beings undergoing
a human experience."
- Lucky Everyday
Not
long ago, Lucky Boyce had every reason to
believe that she had been aptly named. After
her big promotion at Paterson & Company in
New York, the lovely Lucky was wooed and won
by the dashing and highly eligible Vikram
Singh. He whisked her off to Bombay and
marked her as his bride with a custom-made,
four-carat, heart-shaped diamond ring. Lucky
felt as if the world were at her feet. Until
Vikram forcibly and without warning
threatened to annul their marriage which
ended in divorce stripping Lucky of
everything she cared about: husband, wealth,
and her nascent career as a jewelry
exporter. Completely unmoored and seeking
refuge in New York with her old friends Alec
and Susan, Lucky has no inkling that her
life was about to take a dramatic new turn.
But will she be able to open herself up to
it?
It is Alec who convinces Lucky to
volunteer as a yoga instructor at the state
penitentiary. The men’s aggressive posturing
intimidates her at first, but Lucky’s
no-nonsense attitude and her ability to do
one-handed push-ups wins their grudging
respect. Even more surprising, Lucky finds
students like Rooster and Steve who are
willing to put aside their preconceived
notions and open themselves up to the truths
that yoga offers. Sharing this knowledge
with others that truly appreciate it brings
Lucky closer to Shanti the yogi back in
Bombay who rescued her in the darkest days
of her failed marriage and begins to restore
her shaken self-confidence.
While teaching yoga enriches her soul,
her pockets remain empty. With little else
beside her flamboyant engagement ring, Lucky
decides to collect on a few debts from her
days as a businesswoman, running a firm for
Vikram’s family. The owner, Mike Lockwood,
is a bit of a shady character but he
respects Lucky’s abilities and agrees to pay
her back if she helps him turn his own
ailing business around. She accepts and
finds herself enjoying both the camaraderie
and the challenge.
Yet, Lucky is hardly settled in her new
life when she is brutally mugged and winds
up with a broken wrist that might be
permanently paralyzed. While Mike and her
old friends rally around her, Lucky is beset
by one calamity after another only to find
herself at the center of a web of lies that
may spell complete ruin. Lucky wonders what
she has done to deserve such ill fortune but
reflecting on Shanti’s teachings realizes
that it is she alone who has the power to
break free.
In her charming and utterly original
debut novel, Bapsy Jain juxtaposes Lucky’s
current adventures with her carefree single
days and the decay of her marriage. Part
women’s fiction, part thriller, and part
spiritual parable, Lucky Everday is a wise
and wondrous meditation on one
almost-enlightened every woman’s journey
through this life. |