NINE portrays lives of native women of the northern coast of Maharashtra. Once idyllically opulent but now ravaged by mindless urbanization, this locale teems with individuals who fight simultaneously on so many levels with such indomitable zest that their endless struggles stand testimony to the emblematic 'Shakti' from ancient Indian philosophical discourse. The author has tried to recapture and reinterprete this 'absolute energy' in the nine short stories included in this collection.