The Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award celebrates authors whose writing demonstrates literary merit, originality, emotional depth, meaningful ideas, and the ability to leave a lasting impression on readers. Ekta Kapoor Jhamb’s The Autumn stood out to the award committee because it approaches love not simply as a romantic feeling, but as a complex human experience shaped by effort, expectations, change, memory, and acceptance.
The Autumn is described as a story “for the fixers,” for people who believe that love can be protected through effort. At the heart of the novel are Aaradhya and Kabir, two intelligent individuals whose relationship appears naturally aligned and yet remains difficult to keep in balance. Aaradhya is meticulous, highly intelligent, and determined. Kabir is equally capable and becomes the architect of some of her most treasured memories. Their compatibility creates beautiful moments, but compatibility alone does not protect them from the changing seasons of a relationship.
This emotional contradiction gives the novel much of its literary strength. The Autumn does not appear interested in presenting love as a simple destination. Instead, it explores the difficult question of what people do after they have found someone important to them. How much should they fight to preserve a relationship? When does effort become control? Can two people continue loving each other while accepting that circumstances, personalities, priorities, and emotions may change?
The award committee found the central idea of the novel especially meaningful because it reflects a recognizable tendency in modern relationships. Many people grow up believing that anything valuable can be repaired through sufficient effort. The Autumn challenges that belief with sensitivity. It asks whether love is always something that must be held tightly or whether genuine love sometimes requires enough emotional maturity to allow transformation.
The seasonal idea within the novel also gives its emotional journey a distinctive identity. Autumn itself represents transition. It is a season associated with beauty, maturity, letting go, and preparation for change. By placing Aaradhya and Kabir within emotional “seasons,” the book creates a thoughtful framework for examining relationships. Their story becomes more than the journey of two fictional characters. It becomes a reflection on how people respond when something they value begins to change.
Another important quality recognized by the committee is the characterization. Aaradhya is not presented merely as a conventional romantic heroine. Her intelligence, precision, and instinct to understand and correct circumstances become part of the emotional conflict. Kabir, meanwhile, is portrayed as someone capable of meeting her intellectually and creating memories that define important parts of her life. Their relationship therefore carries both intellectual compatibility and emotional complexity.
As an educationist and author, Ekta Kapoor Jhamb brings a thoughtful perspective to storytelling. The themes explored in The Autumn suggest an interest in understanding people, emotional choices, personal growth, and the lessons relationships teach us. Rather than relying only on dramatic romance, the novel encourages readers to think about emotional responsibility and self-awareness.
The selection committee also appreciated the accessibility of the book’s message. The fundamental question at its centre can speak to readers across different ages and experiences. Anyone who has tried to save a relationship, preserve a friendship, hold onto a memory, or understand when to continue and when to accept change may find something familiar within Aaradhya and Kabir’s journey.
The Autumn earns recognition for turning an intimate relationship into a larger reflection on human nature. Its originality lies in examining the instinct to “fix” love while questioning whether every transformation requires correction. Its impact comes from the possibility that readers may recognize something of themselves in the characters’ attempts to understand one another.
For its emotional insight, reflective message, compelling central relationship, thoughtful concept, and contribution to contemporary fiction, The Autumn was considered deserving of recognition by the Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award committee.
Ananta Press warmly congratulates Ekta Kapoor Jhamb on becoming a Winner of the Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award. We wish her continued success as an author and hope The Autumn reaches readers who will engage deeply with its questions about love, effort, acceptance, and change. May this recognition become another meaningful milestone in her literary journey and encourage her to continue contributing thoughtful stories to the world of literature.
Jury Member Feedback
Glenville Ashby
After reading The Autumn, I felt that one of its strongest qualities was the maturity with which it looks at love. Aaradhya and Kabir are not presented as two people whose relationship becomes meaningful only because of romance. They are intelligent individuals who genuinely value one another, yet they still face difficulties that intelligence alone cannot solve. This makes their story feel believable. I especially appreciated the idea of people becoming “fixers” in relationships. Many of us believe that if we work hard enough, communicate enough, or sacrifice enough, everything can be repaired. The book gently asks whether this belief is always healthy. That question stayed with me. Ekta Kapoor Jhamb has created a story that can encourage readers to examine their own expectations from relationships. The seasonal idea also works beautifully because autumn naturally represents change and letting go. The book has emotional sensitivity, a clear central message, and enough depth to remain in the reader’s thoughts after the story ends.
Kavya Pandey
What I appreciated most about The Autumn was its understanding of emotional change. The relationship between Aaradhya and Kabir has warmth, intelligence, memories, and genuine attachment, but the author does not suggest that these qualities automatically make a relationship easy. I found Aaradhya particularly interesting because her intelligence and meticulous nature influence the way she approaches love. She appears to believe that problems can be understood and solved, but relationships do not always behave according to logic. Kabir is equally important because he is not simply placed beside her as a romantic character. He becomes part of the memories and emotional world that she wants to protect. The question of whether love should be held onto or allowed to change gives the book a thoughtful identity. I also liked that the theme is understandable without becoming overly complicated. Readers can connect it with their own experiences. For me, The Autumn deserves recognition because it combines an accessible relationship story with a deeper reflection on effort, acceptance, growth, and emotional maturity.
Apeksha Gupta
The Autumn impressed me because it deals with a subject that is familiar but approaches it from a thoughtful angle. Stories about relationships are common, but Ekta Kapoor Jhamb focuses on what happens when two capable people genuinely care about each other and still cannot keep everything perfectly aligned. Aaradhya and Kabir’s relationship shows that love can contain wonderful memories and strong compatibility while also containing uncertainty. I liked the description of the book as being for “the fixers.” It immediately establishes an important emotional idea. There are people who respond to every difficulty by trying harder, explaining more, or holding more tightly. The novel makes us question whether that instinct always protects love or sometimes prevents us from accepting natural change. This is where I found the book most meaningful. The characters allow the reader to think about relationships without being given an overly simple answer. The Autumn has a relatable message, a strong emotional foundation, and a concept that can generate reflection even after the reader has completed the story.
Kavita Kaushik
For me, The Autumn is memorable because of the way it connects love with the idea of seasons. Relationships also move through different emotional climates. There are periods of happiness, stability, uncertainty, distance, growth, and change. Ekta Kapoor Jhamb uses this idea effectively through Aaradhya and Kabir’s journey. Their relationship is not presented as weak. In fact, the two seem extremely well matched in many ways, which makes their struggle more meaningful. Sometimes the hardest relationships to understand are the ones where love exists but maintaining the same connection becomes difficult. I appreciated that the story appears willing to explore this uncomfortable truth. Aaradhya’s intelligence and need for order add another interesting layer because emotional life cannot always be organized or repaired according to a plan. The larger message about knowing when to hold on and when to allow change is valuable. I believe readers who have experienced complicated relationships will connect strongly with the novel. It is reflective, emotionally relevant, and worthy of literary recognition.
Neel Preet
Reading The Autumn made me think about the difference between loving someone and trying to control the future of a relationship. This is an important distinction, and I believe the book explores it with sensitivity. Aaradhya and Kabir clearly share something meaningful. Kabir has created some of Aaradhya’s favorite memories, and the two appear intellectually suited to one another. Yet the novel reminds us that beautiful memories do not guarantee that two people will always move in exactly the same direction. I found the central question very effective: is love something we hold, or something we allow to change? There is no easy answer, which is precisely why the theme works. Different readers may reach different conclusions based on their own lives. I also appreciated that the book gives importance to emotional growth rather than treating romance as the only goal. The Autumn can encourage readers to think about attachment, effort, acceptance, and change. Its strength lies in taking a simple human experience and turning it into a meaningful and reflective fictional journey.
Deepak Seth
The Autumn stood out to me because the author has chosen to examine the effort behind relationships rather than only their beginning. Many romantic stories focus heavily on attraction and falling in love, but this book appears more interested in what happens when two people must live with the changing reality of that love. Aaradhya and Kabir are compelling because they are intelligent and strongly connected, yet their relationship still requires them to confront difficult emotional questions. I particularly liked the metaphor of orbit. Two people may belong in the same emotional universe and still struggle to remain in the same orbit. That idea gives the story a simple but powerful image. The book also presents an important lesson about acceptance. Effort is valuable, but there are moments when maturity may require understanding that change is not always failure. Ekta Kapoor Jhamb has approached this idea in a way that feels relevant to contemporary readers. The Autumn offers emotional insight, relatability, and a message that encourages thoughtful reflection, making it deserving of this recognition.
