THE POTTER'S POISON

Cleft away by the unhealthy Yamuna, Gunjaan, on the other side of the river bank, is a small, neglected locality dotted with battered low houses, swathed with dirt and filth and smothered into illiteracy. It has two distinctions -- an old, dreaded well, believed to have contained a python for ages, and an old poor potter living among his community members along the banks of the Yamuna. One day, while sitting on the well-ring, haggard and broken, Dedrego's buttock was brushed by the python's hiss which miraculously turned him into a man of ideas, and since then, whenever a novel idea followed by an excitement and tickling on the back of his head dawned upon him, he felt himself fortunate. And the ideas paved way to wealth, honour and fame for him. But his success was doubled-edged. On one side his mysterious skills propelled him to higher ranks and success, while on the other they dealt him with the harshness of his life - curse, isolation and apathy. Where will they lead him? Fused with elements of fantasy, irony and tragedy and interspersed with humour, A Potter's Poison is symbolic story that explores the meaning of success, happiness and revenge in our lives. Dr. Haider delves into the minds of different people - the idealist, the pragmatic and misled.