Saraswati
by Gurnaik Johal· 2025
Blending political satire with ecological parable, Gurnaik Johal's debut finds the lives of seven individuals transformed, as an ancient sacred river springs back to life in a rapidly changing contemporary India.
Centuries ago, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Punjab. Many dismiss this as myth, but when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother's funeral, he finds water in the dried-up well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river as an act of Hindu nationalist pride.
The river changes the course of Satnam's life, and those of six others. As legends and histories resurface, the distant relatives - from a Canadian eco-saboteur to a Mauritian pest exterminator to a Bollywood stunt double - are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Saraswati is brimming with folklore.
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Blending political satire with ecological parable, Gurnaik Johal's debut finds the lives of seven individuals transformed, as an ancient sacred river springs back to life in a rapidly changing contemporary India. Centuries ago, the holy river Saraswati flowed through what is now Punjab. Many dismiss this as myth, but when Satnam arrives in his ancestral village for his grandmother's funeral, he finds water in the dried-up well behind her house. The discovery sets in motion a contentious scheme to unearth the lost river as an act of Hindu nationalist pride. The river changes the course of Satnam's life, and those of six others. As legends and histories resurface, the distant relatives - from a Canadian eco-saboteur to a Mauritian pest exterminator to a Bollywood stunt double - are brought together in a rapidly changing India. Saraswati is brimming with folklore.