I have often been asked (by would-be readers, of course) what my books are about. At the same time, those who have read my books have told me that none of my books are the same – that they are all different from each other. And I don’t dispute that. No two of them are alike, I think.
But there is indeed a common thread that runs through all of them. That leitmotif or recurring theme is finding common ground.
In ‘An American in Search of God’, John, the American, travels to Asia in search of spirituality and himself, and, through a series of unanticipated incidents, finds common ground with Mah Step, a young man of the Sakhi tribe. (By the way, the tribe’s name is fictitious although it is closely modeled on a real tribe of South Asia.)
Or, take the case of Jose in ‘Sometimes When We Meet’, who connects with Carl on another continent through the medium of amateur radio (ham radio) and develops a friendship with far-reaching consequences.
But by far the best example would be the tortuous story Armine, a daughter of the Armenian diaspora, and Kuriakose (Kirakos) a young Indian, in ‘For the Love of Armine’.
‘Chasing the Wind’, however, is the exception that proves the rule. In this novella, no common ground can be found between the idealistic young man, Jacob, and the band of corrupt oligarchs.
‘Memories and Mirages’ illustrate the theme of intrinsic commonality through the medium of poetry.
Yes, I do believe, with all my heart, that in spite of differences in race, age, language, or culture, there is at the core of all of us an area of congruence that binds all human beings.
Unlike the line from the musical “Paint Your Wagon’, I do not believe there is a ‘hell’ in ‘hello.’
To amend the Will Rogers quote a little: “Everyone I meet is a friend I haven’t known before.”