Gently falls the bakula

What is more important: a successful career or a happy marriage? In the small town of Hubli, Shrikant discovers that he is attracted to his plain-looking but charming neighbour Shrimati, who always does better than him in the school exams.

Shrimati too falls in love with the amiable and handsome Shrikant and the two get married. Shrikant joins an IT company and starts rapidly climbing the corporate ladder.

He works relentlessly and reaches the pinnacle of his industry, while Shrimati abandons her academic aspirations and becomes his uncomplaining shasow, silently fulfilling her duties as a corporate leader's wife.

But one day, while talking to an old professor, she starts examining what she has done with her life and realizes it is dismally empty... Gently Falls the Bakula is the story of a marriage that loses its way as ambition and self-interest take their toll.

Written nearly three decades ago, Sudha Murty's first novel remains startlingly relevant in its scrutiny of modern values and work ethics.