What if ideology gave you purpose, then hunted you down? Crimson Mirage a Red Road to Romance: A Psychological Thriller by Babujee Book Tour with Guest Post & Giveaway
CRIMSON MIRAGE
Babujee
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GENRE: Political Psychological Thriller
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Naïve Passionate Dangerous.
Manush is all of these—and more. Caught between the heat of first love and the fire of revolution, he confuses desire with destiny and activism with annihilation. What begins with tender hope ends in blood-soaked betrayal.
Set against the turbulent backdrop of Calcutta’s Naxalite uprising, this haunting debut novel unravels the journey of a boy-turned-assassin—his convictions twisted, his soul scarred, his story unforgettable.
The author grew up in the heart of this upheaval, witnessing firsthand how political fervor tore through families and futures. Crimson Mirage is not just fiction—it’s a reckoning. A meditation on blind love, brutal reprisals, and the elusive promise of freedom.
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EXCERPT
Mita tugged at his hand, her voice almost a command. “Sit down. You’re not going anywhere.”
Doing as he was told, Manush smiled sheepishly. “I really didn’t mean it about Bijuda.”
“It’s alright, I understand.”
Mita was still holding his hand. Manush pretended not to notice, but a tingling feeling was moving up his elbow and up his arms. He stole a glance at her. She was so strong…so decisive, so herself! He wished he were like her.
“I didn’t know you worked a lot outside college?” Manush wanted to keep up the conversation.
“Work…?” Mita was startled. She slowly let go of his hand and murmured absentmindedly, “Sure, it’s work…a lot of work!”
Manush watched as her face broke into a torrent of emotions. She was biting her lips. Something was tearing her apart.
Manush did not know what to do or say, but he felt he must. He gently touched her hands. “It’s alright! Everything will be fine.”
Suddenly, Mita looked at him intensely. “What will be fine? Do you know what you’re talking about?”
Still holding her hands, Manush shook his head. “No, I don’t. Wish I did.”
They sat in tense silence, holding each other’s hands, until Mita broke the silence. “Can you keep a secret?”
Manush nodded, “Upon my life…”
“I don’t expect an answer, but I just want to ask somebody, anybody…”
“Sure.”
“But you can’t question me back…”
“Agreed.”
“And keep it a secret. Or else, both of us will be in deep trouble.”
Once again, Manush nodded.
Mita hesitated awhile, then asked, “Have you ever seen a man die…actually being killed?”
Before Manush could react, she went on, “Did you ever watch the quivering of the eyelids as they close forever, lips pursing up as the soul departs, blood trickling down the chest as breathing stops?”
Mita’s eyes were frantic, roving all around his face like one possessed. “Is it okay to kill somebody?”
For once, Manush was firm, “No, never!”
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Crimson Mirage: A City, A Movement, A Man Caught in Between
What kind of story does Crimson Mirage tell?
At its core, it’s an existential struggle—a man grappling with identity, ideology, and desire—set against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent chapters in India’s history: the Naxal Movement of the 1960s and ’70s. A love story threads through it, but not as a distraction. It’s the quiet heartbeat beneath the chaos, the human tether in a world unraveling. What makes this novel unique isn’t just its themes—it’s the setting. Kolkata, the city that birthed the movement, nurtured it with its brightest youth, and ultimately devoured it. The novel doesn’t romanticize the violence, but it doesn’t sanitize it either. It paints a raw, layered portrait of a time when idealism collided with brutality, and when the city itself became both stage and character. For readers unfamiliar with the Naxal uprising, the Prologue offers a stark initiation. It was a dark, disillusioned era—one that challenged the system with an ultra-left insurgency, and left behind a trail of blood, silence, and unresolved grief. Though I wasn’t born in Kolkata, I was raised there. The agitation unfolded during my adolescence. I was too young to participate, but not too young to witness. I knew people on both sides—those who joined the movement, and those tasked with suppressing it. I knew families who lost sons but couldn’t mourn openly, fearing police retaliation. I remember a boy whose father was assassinated by the Naxals. His silence was louder than any slogan. But one memory stands out above the rest. I was walking along the footpath near Gol Park, a busy junction where used book sellers lined the pavement. They sold secondhand textbooks, but also rented out forbidden fiction—non-political, yet still illegal, and wildly popular among the youth. In the middle of the four-lane road stood a message board, not electronic but manual. Each morning, workers slid plastic letters onto guard rails to display the day’s headline. That day, the headline read: Charu Mazumdar Arrested from Hideout. Charubabu was the supreme leader of the movement. He died of a ‘heart attack’ a few days after arrest. I was mid-transaction with one of the book stalls when a speeding car caught my eye. A hand shot out of the window and hurled something—a crude country bomb, known locally as a peto. The explosion was deafening. We all ducked instinctively. When I stood up, the message board was shattered. Only one word remained: Arrested. That was the Naxals’ protest. Not a press release. Not a rally. Just a bomb, and a message reduced to a single word. My fascination with the movement never waned. Over the years, I spoke with countless people—activists, officers, survivors. I listened to stories of the killer and the killed. Stories of passion, sacrifice, and suffering. These voices, these fragments of memory, became the threads that wove Crimson Mirage. We’ll talk about the novel’s deeper motifs—existentialism and love—another day. For now, I invite you to step into this world. Not just to read a story, but to feel the pulse of a city at war with itself, and a man trying to make sense of it all.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
The author is a professional who grew up in Kolkata during the turbulent times that serve as the backdrop of this novel. He has written short stories and articles. This is his debut novel. More of his writing at babujee.substack.com/archive.
Website: https://mailchi.mp/996745dceee3/crimson-mirage
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crimson-Mirage-Red-Road-Romance-ebook/dp/B0FNKXKRFD/ref=sr_1_1
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GIVEAWAY
Babujee will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
Thank you so much for hosting CRIMSON MIRAGE today.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Sounds good.
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