From New York to Mumbai via the Indus Valley. The Awakening is the amazing journey of a young girl born and raised in New York whose thesis on Indus Valley civilization brings her to Mumbai. Along the way, she discovers not only her lost family, her roots and her lineage which can be traced back to the great Indus Valley Civilization.
The story begins in New York's East Village where the young Sindhu doing research on the Indus Valley Civilization realizes that to do justice to her research she needs to visit the land of her roots … India. She lands in Mumbai where her maternal grandmother, her Nani, lives – alone and lonely. Sindhu's mother had lost touch with her own mother in her quest for a better life in a foreign land. An embittered Nani, a doctor by profession, is not exactly thrilled to see her grand-daughter at her doorstep. But the young intruder in Nani's life soon steals her heart and the two forge a connection which goes beyond family bonding.
Alongside her research begins Sindhu's personal journey of discovery of her own Sindhi roots. While Nani introduces Sindhu to her Sindhi roots, beginning with mouth-watering recipes and takes her down the cultural path of traditional Sindhi arts, crafts and music, customs and rituals now largely forgotten by a community that has prospered materialistically in every part of the world they inhabit. Sindhu draws Nani out from her self-imposed emotional exile into the world of music. Nani, a singer in her youth, cuts an album of Sindhi songs which turns out to be a huge hit.
Nani takes Sindhu down memory lane. She recalls how she, like thousands of her Sindhi community, had fled Pakistan during The Partition with their lives and little else. Most of the men folk were held back during those horrific days of bloodshed. Nana never returned. Sixty years later, Nani still waits for his return! Nana hears the music and his beloved's voice and traces his way back home to be reunited with his long lost family. Sindhu's search for her roots finds a happy ending. On this journey of discovery Sindhu makes new friends and finds true love too.
Like the phoenix, the Sindhis have risen from the ashes. They have worked their way from scratch to make a success of everything they touch. On their way to this success they have melted their culture in the cauldron of modernity. The Awakening is a wake-up call to all races, Sindhis in particular, to reconnect with their roots and take pride in their lineage which can be traced back to great beginnings.
For Sindhu the journey has ended, for everybody else the journey is about to begin…