Former diplomat turned prolific author and a scholar and former member of parliament to boot, Pavan Varma’s latest book is a slim but ruminative novel titled 'The Lady Who Carried the Monk Across the River'.

It gives a novelistic twist the famous Buddhist parable about two monks and a woman waiting cross a muddy river. Set in the Himalayan foothills, the book has been described as a taut, philosophical novel where faith meets longing and desire refuses to stay on the margins.