Plot Introduction
It deals with Teddy Ottinger, a Southern Californian aviatrix and author, who after publishing a book called Beyond Motherhood, comes to the attention of Kalki, the leader of a Kathmandu-based religious cult. The cult secretly makes its money through selling drugs and then gives it away using lotus lotteries. Kalki claims to be God and that he is the final Avatar of Vishnu, who is going to end the human race on April 3. The planet will then be rid of the wicked and a fresh, clean start will usher in a new golden age. Ottinger suspects that Kalki will create a world wide nuclear chain reaction which will annihilate every living thing and leave the planet uninhabitable.
However, when the threatened apocalypse does occur, it does not take the form that Ottinger feared, although it still comes to pass, and the human species still succumbs to extinction as a consequence.
The novel deals with many cultural and political topics such as overpopulation, birth control, bisexuality and feminism.
Read more about this topic: Kalki (novel)
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