'Three days before Diwali, Amar Khanna and Serena Sharma were found dead in a penthouse apartment in Gurgaon. They were doing cocaine which was laced with other chemicals...,' Trivedi says, quoting from her book.

'Drug addiction has been growing steadily in the capital.Ten years ago, may be only 100 kids that I knew were doing it. Then 500 kids and now, probably more than 1,000.

'Unfortunately, children here find it a very cool thing to do. When we grew up in the US, we were not encouraged to do drugs because we were told that it was not for young people. Such awareness is missing here,' Trivedi said.

The writer felt that alcoholism and smoking were also major concerns amongyouth in the capital. 'One out of three accidents in the capital is caused by drunken driving,' Trivedi said.

'The Great Indian Love Story' is a kind of mirror to contemporary Indian society, feels Trivedi.

'Serena messes up her life by falling for a married man. Earlier, such a thing was taboo in the country. But families are changing. They are nuclear. Women are getting more voice. Friends of mine have divorced and have remarried. But there is more instability.

'Serena, my heroine, for example, was too young and a lot of things happened to her very fast. Women need more empowerment in this country to make marriages of choice and more awareness,' Trivedi said.

The writer's vision of the India of the future is one 'which will provide equal opportunities for women, promote secularism, preserve spirituality and traditional culture and make education available to all to help children blend the best of West with the east.'

Trivedi has resumed work on her unfinished book 'Intern'.

(Madhushree Chatterjee can be contacted at madhu.c@ians.in)