The Woman Who Saw the Future by Amit Sharma

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“Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course, they actually become the person they seem.”
                                                                          The Moon and Sixpence – Somerset Maugham

Nostradamus could not have done it better than Sapna Vaid, the protagonist of Amit Sharma’s ‘The Woman Who Saw the Future’, a timid young girl who despises cornflakes, adores Greek mythology and has healthy spats with her mother. Her parents, Prakash and Kalpana, have built their future together at Dilshad Garden, “piece by piece. Togetherness for us was creating this small world for ourselves... filling it with things we loved.”

Vikrant, Sapna’s brother, is the anchor that Sapna clings on to, as she writes letters to him, her way of communicating with him. She confides in him all her fears, her insecurities and her ups and downs, even after she meets a boy in college, Saahil, who soon becomes part of the family. Her fears overwhelm her. “What if I am a harbinger? What if the deaths happen in reality because of my presence in the dreams? What if I am not a witness but a bad omen?”

It is in 2002 that Kabir comes into Sapna’s life, with grandiose ideas of turning Sapna’s gift of prophesying the future into a TV programme, ‘Lucky People’ meant to save as many people as possible, a platform to use her powers effectively. Mehak, a brilliant sketch artist, and Anupama, a fearless star reporter, are roped in to ensure that the show catches eyeballs with its authenticity.

Soon, the whole world is watching!

Sapna turns into a star, but slowly, things get complicated as she is trapped in a life slowly spiraling out of control.

Will Sapna be able to hold her head above water, and manage her relationships at the same time? Will the baggage weigh her down as she continues to make her predictions? Can she survive on the thousands of prayers that come her way, even as she strives to make sense of a life, turned chaotic? These and many other questions are answered as the novel moves on at breakneck speed, till it culminates in a consummation that shocks, throwing the reader off balance.

Amit Sharma uses an unusual technique of propelling his tale ahead, that of diary writing. Sapna’s innermost hopes, fears and desires are conveyed to the readers through her diary entries to Vikrant. It finally takes an act of atonement to bring peace to her life and to the lives of those who love her.


This is a wonderfully readable book that brings the myth of Narcissus to life in many ways, maybe a tribute to the author’s obvious fascination with Greek mythology.

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