About the Book The Promised Hand (Vevishaal), an immensely popular Gujarati novel to this day, first appeared in weekly installments in the newspaper Phoolchhab and was published in book form in 1938. Two small town merchant families pledge to marry their children Sukhlal and Sushila to each other when the two come of age. Before that happens, Sushila's family moves to 43 Mumbai and strikes it rich. Chaak Sheth, the 'patriarch' of the rich family wants to get out of the promised alliance at any cost. Without taking sides, Vevishaal tells the story of the ensuing struggle between a wealthy, ruthless man and his presumed meek adversaries. The showdown at the end of the narrative reveals all the principle characters at the heights of their build-up. Vevishaal s presentation of a well developed and diverse set of characters is supplemented by vivid portrayals of the 1930s' lifestyles of Gujarat is in Mumbai and the small villages of Saurashtra.