I just finished reading 'Adira'. I was so tempted to write something about it that I didn't want to give up. And, where I'm starting from may seem irrelevant.

I'll start my talk with teaching. Teaching means teaching – 'Teaching is learning'.

It may sound simple, but if you understand what kind of practice learning is, it is a very profound thing.

Learning means washing away your ego, bowing down, which is not part of a person's basic character, and one does not want to do it suddenly. Learning also means being humble, which most people have forgotten and adopted as a way of life. While teaching, the teacher who keeps the door of desire to learn open, shows affection and compassion towards others and is sensitive to others, not to himself. After Teaching is Learning, I would like to add to it – ‘Writing is Thinking’.

Let me say one thing in this context!

Salim Javed was one of the famous screenwriters in the Hindi cinema world in the seventies. Salim is the father of Salman Khan and Javed is the father of Farhan Akhtar. When he was at the peak, a journalist once asked Salimji, ‘Who writes between you two?’

Salimji replied, ‘It is not important who writes, don’t ask, rather ask who thinks. We have hired writers to write what we think.’

At first glance, it may seem that thinking is a big thing. I can't say whether it is big or small. But, it is important and meaningful. How do humans think? According to science, millions of fibers have to work together to think.

This is a matter of physiology.

The main thing is that thinking or contemplating on a topic is not a simple matter. Knowledge is necessary at the base of it. The source of knowledge is unlimited. Without knowledge, thinking cannot be born, without thinking, thinking cannot be born, and thinking is the foundation of a writer, one of his various tools.

Which philosophy to follow, what science to keep close to, what literature to associate with, and under which shade of the giant tree of history to sit is a matter of the choice of the writer who does 'thinking' for the sake of 'writing'.

Thinking and writing is not an easy journey, reaching the goal of writing is not easy . And, no one can achieve the results of their writing overnight . In a society like ours, it is even more difficult for women . How difficult writing is for women, who have to work harder than men, is beyond the imagination of the common man . In our society, which takes everything for granted, how much respect and understanding the difficulties faced by writers can be a separate topic of discussion .

I repeat, being a writer is a difficult job . It is not easy to voluntarily go into solitary confinement in the spare time after facing the troubles of the world, 'dealing' with home and society, and thinking, deleting, adding, and wandering in an untouched and undiscovered world with a pen in hand or in front of a laptop/desktop. Another difficult task is to weave a vast image of unsaid and unimagined plots, turns, ups and downs in that world in an interesting way.

The wonderful result of this difficult work is Adira.

As I discovered, Adira means – strong, powerful, energetic and noble. If this is true, then Adira is not just the name of the novel, I want to call the novelist Anita Kharel by the name Adira.

I do not want to put Adira in any category, whether it is a self-contained novel, or ‘magical realism’ like Marquez’s ‘Hundred Years of Solitude’ or ‘literary modernism’ like Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ or ‘absurdist fiction’. However, if the author claims that it is fictional, I will keep it within that circle.

Readers, for now, I will consider this novel as fictional. I have my own personal opinion about fantasy. I find this world, this universe, the creation of life, and all living beings to be fictional. Sometimes I wonder why there is a need for fantasy writing. However, when I read an international fantasy work, I forget what I thought.

The illusion that this world and we are real flies away from my mind like a bird, and another bird that says there is a need for fantasy nests in my mind. However, the existence of fantasy becomes meaningful when fantasy is connected to the society we live in. When it is connected to our happiness, sorrow, problems, dreams and relationships, imagination becomes meaningful.

When it is connected to our real limitations, weaknesses, strengths and unexplored powers, imagination becomes meaningful. Whether we read West's imaginative works or study Dali's imaginative paintings, they are all connected to society and life. In this sense, the work Adira has become very close to the narrative created by my consciousness and thoughts. This is one of the unforgettable coincidences for me.

What is the power of imagination? When imagination reaches our different experiences, feelings, perceptions and philosophy of life by going beyond the unlimited possibilities of imagination and drawing a picture of an image and a self-created world. Perhaps that is its power. Imagination helps to advocate for the victory of good, morality, compassion and kindness without being imprisoned in the canvas of reality. It spreads a ray of hope and sheds light on the beauty of human life. When the reader reaches the world of Adira, he will wander in the empire of this power. Another special aspect of

Adira is its style. The novelist has skillfully described the events of the novel in a pictorial way where she feels it is necessary, which makes it easy for the reader to create an image in his own way. Because the reader can imagine the scene while reading, the reader will get a unique taste of reading Adira. This is my belief. If the readers wanted to read the summary of Adira, I did not deliberately decide not to fulfill it. If I did so, I would be considered to have misled your desire to read the novel and it would be unfair to both you and the author.      

Earlier I said that teaching is learning and writing is thinking, after this comes the turn of ‘reading’.

‘Reading is exploring a hidden world created by the author’. Reading a book with any preconceived notions is an injustice to yourself and the time you spend on it. This is not my warning to anyone, this is a humble suggestion.

Adira is available in the market. I invite you to dive into the world created by the novelist. The sections created from each page will take you to a world woven in imagination where everyone’s imagination cannot reach. If you feel that your dreams, desires, and wishes to colorize and overcome challenges have been fulfilled through Adira, then it will be a meaningful achievement for the novelist.