A neurologist and a novelist converge on one truth: the love of Shiva and Shakti is not mythology — it is the universe’s operating system, and your brain is wired for it.
Dr. Shubhankar Mishra opens with a neurologist’s question: if love is only chemistry — dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin — why doesn’t it fade like every other chemical reaction? His answer reaches back to the Nasadiya Sukta of the Rig Veda: before the Big Bang, before time itself, there was Nirguna Shiva — formless, silent. Creation began the moment that silence desired to express. That desire is Shakti. The love between them is the first and only truly eternal love. He then issues a sharp neurological warning: watching videos atrophies the cortex and accelerates dementia; reading activates imagination and keeps the brain alive. Read, he urges — not just his book, but any book.
Dr. Gaytri Koley’s novel follows Kalyani, born in 1960s Bihar, through a broken engagement, army service, war wounds in Sri Lanka, and COVID widowhood. Her real affliction throughout is the belief “I am not good enough.” Koley draws on the Kunti-Krishna exchange — Kunti asking for sorrow so she never forgets God — to argue that suffering is not random: it is personally designed by the soul to turn the seeker toward truth. Kalyani’s journey ends not in finding love in a relationship, but in realising she herself is love.
About the Speakers:
Dr. Shubhankar Mishra is a distinguished neurologist from eastern India with an extensive academic and professional background. He holds an MBBS degree from S.C.B. Medical College in Cuttack, a postgraduate qualification from M.K.C.G. Medical College in Berhampur, and has completed post-doctoral super-specialisation in Neurology at S.C.B. Medical College. Dr. Mishra’s academic excellence is evident in his receipt of gold medals in both postgraduate and postdoctoral studies. He has undertaken fellowships in paediatric neurology and pain management and contributed to the advancement of neurology through numerous publications. Dr. Mishra also maintains a weekly blog—neurons.blog—which features informative articles on neurology. Beyond his medical career, Dr. Mishra’s interests extend to spiritual study and scientific research into consciousness. He has been engaged in meditation practices and is associated with the Kriya Lineage of Mahavatar Babaji, drawing inspiration from Bhagawan Shiva and Swami Vivekananda.
Dr. Gaytri Koley is a paediatrician with extensive experience of having worked at various hospitals across India. She and her husband served in the army for several years. This is her debut novel. She currently lives in Noida.
