Madonna. A 16th century Italian word. ‘Ma’ meaning ‘My’ and ‘donna’ meaning ‘Lady’. ‘My Lady’. The image of this pure, chaste mother has been depicted in art many times over the centuries; in paintings and in sculptures. Many galleries exhibit them. Cradling the baby Jesus in her arms, she smiles serenely. A scene representing the universal love and devotion a mother feels for her child. Safe, protected, loved. A Mother’s love. The strongest bond. But what if that child should be cruelly taken away from her? Snatched? Abducted? Stolen? How could one hope to imagine the heartache, the suffering, the agony she would suffer? As a guest speaker at a medical conference in Washington DC in the early 1970s, retired Medical Doctor Prakash Das had one such bizarre, unforgettable encounter. The memory of it still haunts him to this very day. It changed him. The events of that day have remained untold for almost fifty years. Until now. But the story doesn’t end there. Included in this book are a number of short essays, candid observations and thoughts inspired by the fascinating places and the unusual men and women he’s met on his travels in this land of opportunity. A land where anything is possible. Or so they say. In his search to find the ‘American Dream’.
