About the Book

What do you get when a senior bureaucrat moonlights as a Kathak virtuoso? In Shovana’s case—raised eyebrows, dropped jaws, and the occasional—‘Files and footwork?’, ‘Do you sign files mid-spin?’ ‘Meetings in a lehenga?’, ‘Do your staff clap in tala when you walk in?’ Her answer: discipline, ruthless time management, and zero overlap… though the idea of a meeting with rhythmic tatkaar was tempting. But this isn’t just a story of multitasking—it’s about making ‘Why not both?’ a life motto. Shovana didn’t just juggle two demanding careers—she rewrote the rulebook. Passionate about dance, fascinated by physics and maths, she chose both and excelled. She married Austrian ambassador Dr Herbert Traxl on her own terms, balancing two cultures, two careers, and a long-distance marriage with equal grace. In the 1970s, she even broke taboo by giving mukhagni to her father—an act of fierce love and quiet rebellion. This book is more than her story. It’s a challenge to every ‘either-or’ in life, a celebration of passion and profession coexisting. The book asks the only question worth asking: Why choose, when you can have it all? It enters the tatva of classical traditions, where art whispers life’s philosophy and endures beyond fleeting glory.

About the Author

Maya ‘Parijat’ is a bilingual author whose engagement with the creative expression spans over two decades, embracing romance, fiction, poetry, short stories, and biographies. Her work is known for its emotional exactness, layered psychological insight, and a reflective tone that bridges the intimate and the universal. She approaches life stories not as compilations of events, but as meditations on the forces—inner and outer—that shape a person’s art and being.