The myth of Nachiketa is well known as it pertains to the haloed Upanishad: Kathopnishad, the ancient book of knowledge and philosophy of India, that has its ramifications in the modern man's obsession with scientific inquiries to decipher the meaning of human existence and man's never ending passion of conqoring death. This story however carries an inner meaning.It is of the older generations ever willing to sacrifice the future of their successors for perpetuating their own selfish ends.

The present fiction " Shatabdira Nachiketa" ( The Nachiketas of the Century) is a depiction of the same selfishness of the post Gandhian politicians of India, after independence, who engineered the attack on the future of brilliant youths of the times by misleading them and luring into dirty politics. The misled youths abandoned pursuit of higher education, set by the British so meticulously over the century, resulting in the collapse of higher education in India in no time.

The picture of this sad debacle of human resources in our country is remarkably portrayed in this novel of about 200 pages.