Mr. and Mrs. Chaukar move to Paris, France with their three boys. They open an Indian vegetarian restaurant called “L’Inde A Paris- Restaurant Indoustan,” in Paris’s  Latin Quarter. The year is 1937. They flourish. In 1939 World War II broke out. Paris comes under German occupation.  The children are separated from the parents. The eldest son is placed in a concentration camp. The book captures the trials and tribulations of the family’s  passage through these turbulent times based on the anecdotal evidence provided by Mr. Raghunath Chaukar, the story’s lone survivor. He is 93 years old and lives  in Mumbai.

This book is an attempt to present this compelling historical event for readers around the world.

For Vidula, writing is a journey of joy and struggle: the search for the perfect word, the frustration of false starts, the thrill of flow, and the companionship of characters who make her laugh, surprise her, and sometimes wake her at night with marvelous lines—only to be discarded by morning. Through it all, she happily sustains herself with handfuls of peanuts. She has come to realize there is nothing else she would rather do.

In addition to writing, Vidula is a certified Hatha Yoga instructor. Yoga keeps her grounded, energized, and hopeful through life’s many ups and downs—and, much like writing, it has become an essential part of who she is.