Durga in Nigeria
Piyush Mahiskey
"Durga in Nigeria" is a literary novel that explores displacement, intimacy, and myth-making through the story of Saanidhya Ashtankar—“Saani”—a disciplined product strategist from Pune who undergoes a quiet transformation while living in Lagos. Her near-death experience becomes the seed of a public myth, turning her into a symbol of divine revelation across India. Yet the novel resists miracle—it chooses emotional inevitability.
Spanning 23 chapters, the narrative begins with Anant Joshi’s move from Pune to Lagos, leaving behind his wife Roshni and son Kush. In Lagos, Anant’s bond with Saani evolves from professional collaboration to sacred companionship. Parallel threads explore Roshni’s devotional resilience, Kush’s symbolic presence, Anant’s collapse into broken heart syndrome, and Saani’s internal reckoning. The “Nine Days of Battle” mirror Navratri’s emotional duality, culminating in Saani’s unintended deification. In the final chapter, "Godwoman", her silence is reframed as scripture.
Thematically, the novel renders Lagos not as exotic backdrop but emotional terrain. It interrogates how trauma is commodified, how silence becomes sanctity, and how faith migrates across borders. Durga appears not in temples, but in trauma. Relationships unfold through glances, rituals, and poetry—not exposition.
Written in emotionally precise, restrained prose, the novel blends technical metaphors with cultural rituals to create a narrative that is both grounded and mythic. It avoids melodrama, honoring ambiguity and earned mystery.
"Durga in Nigeria" is not a commentary—it is a meditation on emotional truth, rooted in Marathi nuance and diaspora psychology, yet universally resonant.
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