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| ABOUT BIRD IN A BANYAN TREE: |
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April of 1999, it was hard for Bina Ramani, noted Indian designer, entrepreneur and social activist, to imagine how life could get any better. Then the unthinkable happened.
At a party she was hosting in her successful restaurant, a group of young men entered and demanded drinks. Jessica Lal, a model and friend of Bina’s daughter, Malini’s explained that it was past closing time and no more drinks were being served. An argument ensued, and two gunshots rang out -- the first fired into the air, and the second striking Jessica, who fell to the ground mortally wounded.
Bina intercepted the fleeing shooter and managed to detain him for a few moments before he pushed his way past her and fled into the night. She rushed Jesica to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to the bullet.The shooter was identified as Manu Sharma, the son of one of India’s most powerful and corrupt politicians. Bina , as one of the key witnesses, was threatened, jailed, and faced with closure of her business in daring attempts to convert her from a key witness to an accused. Faced with dire consequences, She fights with rare courage, during a dangerous seven year journey till she acheives justice and the killer gets the Life sentence he deserve.
This story sets the stage for Bird in a Banyan Tree, Bina Ramani’s compelling autobiographical narrative. Starting with her early, sheltered years as the youngest of nine children in a prominent Sikh family, who came to India as refugee during the bloody partition in 1947 between India and Pakistan. It is a story of privilege and of deprivation, of the loving support offered by traditional family life and the stifling restrictions imposed by that life on a young Indian girl with untraditional dreams. It is a universal story -- of difficult challenges overcome, and life-changing events embraced with courage, and a passionate conviction that truth, innocence and spiritual strength will prevail against all odds.
As a girl, the traditional values of her family discouraged any thought of pursuing a college degree. Her dreams expanded far beyond her cloistered world.. Later on, she had to renounce a fairytale romance with a major Indian movie star in favor of a loveless arranged marriage which brought her to America. She struggled with deep conflicts. After 13 years of complicated marriage she finds the courage to take her first step to independence, only to have her two daughters kidnapped by her husband. Her desperate search lands in India where a new destiny awaits her.
Bina gets drawn to another passionate romance, with a renowned artist, but her heart-breaking conflict of duty versus heart's pleasure come to the fore in an enchanting episode with a soothsayer.
Back in India, she sees inspirational opportunities to nurture her turbulent mind and discovers her creative gift which drives her to build bridges between cultures of India and America. Bina dares to dream of converting a 13th century abandoned Hauz Khas village into a groundbreaking creative arts, crafts and design community which has harvested into Delhi’s answer to New York’s West Village. The effort earned Bina a prestigous award for historic preservation and tourist development. Known as the ‘God-mother of Fashion’, Bina was the first to create high fashion western designs made from antique textiles collected lovingly from all corners of India. She ran successful boutiques in India and New York drawing enviable raves from the media and elite clients from all over the world.
Her impressive resume revealed a knack for bringing East and West together on a variety of cultural, artistic and business fronts. As director of US marketing and sales for the prestigious Taj Group of hotels she launched New York's first glitzy Indian resturant, called Raga where frequently visiting Indian Royals from Rajasthan mingled intimitely with New York's haute society.
But Bina Ramani’s life wasn’t all glitz and glamour - for many years, she has been a prominent player in a number of charitable causes both in New York and India, including an innovative program to provide opportunities and education for street children. A first of its kind fundraiser with Richard Gere brought the first awareness of AIDS into the light of public discussion in India, opening up hundreds of shelters and hospices for patients across India.
Her popular 'Agony Aunt' colums in The Asian Age, brought out intimate details of incest and rape revealing a sobering insight into India's social fibre. Bina passionately embraced the anguish of her readers as her personal mission, starting an outreach program to help such victims, which she actively pursues.
Another passion filled romance in Delhi leads Bina into marriage with Canadian artist, in a series of tradional wedding ceremonial parties stretching to nine days and raising Delhi's social bar to hitherto unknown levels.
Finally, Bird in a Banyan Tree becomes a story of courage and perseverance in the face of political corruption, abuse of power, and sensational tabloid distortions of reality.
Ultimately, Bina herself was arrested on flimsy, fabricated charges, and jailed in India’s notorious Tihar prison - an event that was so shocking, and revealed so much political manipulation, that the media and the public finally woke and demanded a new probe into the truth. It was not only a turning point in Bina Ramani’s life - it also had profound consequences for the very fabric of India ’s judicial system and its long history of abuses and corruption. Life in Delhi became untenable, and Bina moved in search of relative peace to the more tranquil and welcoming seaside town of Goa. Her daughters, Malini and Gitu carved their own destinies into successful lives in New York and Delhi.
As the book ends, we find the author free at last from the shadows that have constrained her life for so many years. Her experiences have blessed her with a deep appreciation of the fragile threads that sustain life, love and integrity. She has found the balance within herself between the two distinctly opposite cultures that have shaped her life. The trials she has endured have strengthened her passionate quest to bring about a more just, humane, and honest world -- and to inspire other women who are trapped by the same struggles and injustices she has faced and conquered. She says, “I feel that a new chapter in my life’s work has just begun.”
Complete manuscript expected to be 350 pages; photos and illustrations available.
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The Indo-American Arts Council is a 501 ©3 not-for-profit secular arts organization passionately dedicated to promoting, showcasing and building an awareness of artists of Indian origin in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts and folk arts. For information please visit .
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