Dhobi-ka-Gadha, like most other donkeys, was born detached, blissfully ignorant of the great beyond. Food, his beloved Pyari and a day without a beating from the washerman were the only thoughts that filled his mind. But then along came Toti, the Buddhist parrot from Sarnath, and in her wake Langu, the Hindu monkey from Varanasi, armed with the tenets of their religions. Both had one agenda: to convert the donkey. While one promised Nirvana, the other assured Moksha, words that a donkey could ignore. However, the promise of freedom, by leapfrogging a few steps up the karmic ladder to become a human being, was a carrot even Dhobi-ka-Gadha could not pass. And thus began his downfall.

 

A brilliant satire, A Tale of Two Truths resurrects the fable genre. As he demolishes the absoluteness of ritualistic religion, Ashvin Desai offers a dash of clarity and wisdom with his extraordinary wit.