Becoming the Storm

Rami Chhabra turns her decades of experience as a journalist, writer and feminist to fiction, telling the story of a woman coming into her own. Becoming the Storm is part family saga, part bildungsroman, part mystery – set upon a finely observed background of New Delhi as it evolved post-Independence.

Stepping out of the media world that was long her field, Rami Chhabra has now plunged into the world of fiction with aplomb and gusto and produced a sprawling family saga set in the stirring days of Partition and the early days of Indian independence. By spinning an intricate web out of an affluent Punjabi family’s loves and loyalties, intrigues and deceptions, beliefs, ambitions and illusions, she pursues the constant conflict between tradition and modernity, stasis and change, that challenges and holds them captive. Each character is larger than life and just as vivid, every event sharply observed and conveyed with verve and drama, the whole creating a richly coloured and textured portrayal of a people and its time.

Rami brings her lifetime of experience, wisdom and struggle for women’s rights for dignity, justice, equality and respect to weave together a story of endurance and strength.

Becoming the Storm is a deeply moving exploration of human resilience set against the backdrop of the abrasive post-Independent Delhi. With its compelling characters, the novel beautifully captures the tumultuous spirit of a changing era while delving into the complexities of family ties, societal expectations, and the mystical threads of fate.

Rami Chhabra, an accomplished writer, has this time taken to fiction. Her debut novel Becoming the Storm is a story of a Punjabi family set in the 1950s–60s. It is essentially woven around a young girl born into a traditional set-up who wants to go on her own. Others are stuck in time, tradition and taunts. An interesting novel.

Rami Chhabra turns her decades of experience as a journalist, writer and feminist to fiction, telling the story of a woman coming into her own. Becoming the Storm is part family saga, part bildungsroman, part mystery – set upon a finely observed background of New Delhi as it evolved post-Independence.