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Love conquers all
A new non-fiction novel about a Swedish – Indian love
story
Like a shimmering tale is the story of the real life of Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia
who was born poor in an untouchable community in the small village of
Athmallik in Orissa in eastern India. He calls himself PK.
All his life he
has lived with a prophecy the astrologer's wrote on a palm leaf shortly after
his birth: "You should marry a girl who is not from the village, not from
the district, not even from this country, she will be musical, own jungle and
be born in the sig of taurus".
The prophecy follows him through life, but many setbacks were difficult and
many times he had doubts about surviving the difficult times.
At Delhi College of Art he learned to draw portraits. Every night he thereafter
went to the park in the middle of Connaught Place to draw people and get money
for living.
His life has been
full of contrasts. One minute he was starving and sleeping on the street, in
the next he was invited home to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who want him to
paint her portrait.
One evening in 1976 when Pikej as usual is in the park to draw portraits a young
blonde woman suddenly appeared. Lotta von Schedvin, as her name was, had traveled
by a Volkswagen bus from the city of Borås in Sweden all the way to New Delhi
(almost 9 000 km). She was born in the sign of taurus, imagine a future as a
music teacher and the family owns forests in Sweden. She was the woman the
astrologer’s had talked about.
So begins this breathtaking love story. Chances that the two young people would
see each other again when Lotta has travelled home to Sweden is minimal. If it
were not for a second hand ladies' Raleigh-bicycle. The cycle takes PK between
Asia and Europe. Despite hardship and endless setbacks treading he stubbornly
further west.
Today PK and Lotta are married and has two children. They live together in a
big yellow wooden house in the dence forrests of southwest Sweden. Pikej has
worked as an art teacher and Lotta is still a music teacher.
"New Delhi Boras”, which is the title of the true story, teaches us that
everything is indeed possible. The reality surpasses the poem and love conquers
all. The only thing needed is confidence, tenacity – and a used bike.
The author Per J Andersson is a travel
journalist and expert on India which he has visited regurarly since the early
80’s and he has, among other things, founded Sweden’s leading travel magazine
Vagabond.
Release date: The 20th of February 2013.
