Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of Hitler’s Germany and Gandhi’s India, “In The Shadow of Freedom” written by Mrs. Laxmi is a heady mix of both global history with local familiar realities and politics with personal relationships. It is a colourful story of the intermeshing lives of two women, the one man they both loved, their growing friendship and two countries battling with violence and non-violence, fascism and colonization.
This remarkable tale describes the turbulent lives of author Laxmi’s parents Ayi Tendulkar and Indumati, in the early thirties, narrated by Laxmi herself. In the 1920’s, Tendulkar, a young journalist from just outside Goa, travels to Germany to study, and falls in love with and marries one of Germany’s most celebrated film writers, Thea von Harbou, wife of legendary director Fritz Lang. On his return to India, he gets caught up in the whirlwind of Gandhi’s activism, marries a Gandhian activist Indumati Gunaji and both spent several years in Indian prisons. There are a number of Goa links that pepper this unusual story. From Germany, Tendulkar is described visiting his grandparents’ home in Mayem, Goa. He was also President of the Goa Congress Committee in 1946, after the arrest of T. B. Cunha.
Bio-data: Mrs Laxmi is a Post-Graduate in Biochemistry from the University of Mumbai. As an author she has penned titles across genres spanning spiritual and temporal sections. Her published works include ‘The Sufi Shrine of Ajmer’, ‘The Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya’, ‘Guide to the Gentleman Chef’, and ‘Chimi’s Dream’. She resides in Mumbai and is currently involved in producing animation films to create environmental awareness amongst school children.
P.C. https://www.laxmidhaul.com%2Fblog%2Fbbc-asia-network-london-nihal-interviews-laxmi-tendulkar-dhaul-
