The Last Color

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It's Holi, 2012, the Hindu festival of spring, and back in Varanasi after twenty years, a young advocate is celebrating a nation-wide Supreme Court order against an age-old tradition of social injustice meted out to the destitute widows of India – to whom even the simple joys of color were denied.\n\nIt was in this city that, twenty years ago, Choti, a sassy, tight-rope walker befriends an old widow, Noor. As a member of the ashram, she lives a life of complete abstinence, but her young friend's innocent exuberance and joy of life fills her with renewed hope.\n\nThe two form an unlikely bond, with Noor looking out for Choti, inspiring her to 'fly high' by seeking an education and fighting for her rights with dignity. Choti listens enraptured by the memories her friend shares: of playing Holi dressed as Radha, the consort of Lord Krishna, and flinging great bursts of her favorite pink-colored gulal into the sky. Choti promises her that they will play the next Holi together.\n\nBut then, one night, another friend of Choti's, Anarkali, is murdered by the heinous police chief and his goons. Being the only witness to her murder, Choti is imprisoned on the eve of Holi. Everything falls apart in the ensuing chaos.\n\nWill Choti be able to keep her promise of playing Holi with Noor?\n\nPitting the smoke rising from the funeral pyres of Manikarnika Ghat, against the joyous color-bursts of Holi celebrations, Vikas Khanna's marvellously layered story of the survival of a delicate friendship, is brilliantly told and poignantly life-affirming.

Vikas Khanna is an award winning, Michelin Star Indian chef, restaurateur, food writer, filmmaker, humanitarian and the host of MasterChef India, Junior MasterChef India and Twist of Taste on FOX Traveller. Vikas was raised in Amritsar, India where he grew up surrounded by large family feasts, and seasonal produce fresh from the fields of Punjab, and of course, his grandmother?s traditional home cooking, which became the foundation of his cooking career. He started his own banquet and catering business, Lawrence Gardens, and then later went on to graduate from the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration and also studied at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. Vikas is a firm supporter of sustainable farming and is focused on cooking with produce from local farms of New York. Vikas has received the prestigious Michelin Star for his restaurant Junoon for three consecutive years. He was honoured with the Rising Star Chef Award by Star Chefs for his role in shaping the future of American Cuisine. He has received several international awards for his books. He lives in New York City.

Vikas Khanna

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