Book review : Learned Men and Women of Ancient India

Learned Men and Women in Ancient India
by Sreelata Menon
Genre:Nonfiction

This is an interesting and informative book for children. Though by no means complete, it is a book of and about learned men and women in ancient India as the title says. What is interesting about the book is that each chapter is about one learned man or woman and starts with quotes/shlokas from the works of the men and women covered in the chapter or from rig veda and then goes to into their life and later their contributions to philosophy, aviation, surgery, mathematics, astronomy and other fields.

The learned men include Kanad to Thiruvaluvar while the women include Maitreyi to Gargi. I kind of missed Avvaiyar and other women poets whose contribution as usual is missing though their works are there in some of the oldest literature is recorded in Purananooru and Bhakti literature. That is my only complaint but in a multilingual country like India it is hard to cover so many women and men who composed and contributed to  ancient literatire like Puranooru, Agananooru, Periya Puranam, Tolkapiyam, Shakuntala, Silapathikaram, etc. Maybe the author should plan to write a sequel to this book

The writing is crisp and easy to follow. Some like Charaka, Lopamudra, Bhaskarcharya II were new to me. I didn't know there were two Bhaskaras who had contributed to mathematics and thought there was just one.  

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A great weekend read

The Paatala Prophecy Son of Bhrigu
by Christopher C. Doyle
Genre : Fiction

This is the first book of the Paatala Prophecy series. Son of Bhrigu refers to Shukracharya - the Guru of Asuras. I had put this aside because of the title.Two days ago, I decided to read it finally as I had not read Doyle for a long time. And what a ride!

Arjun and Maya are two fifteen year old school kids who find their life turned upside down when their history teacher is murdered. While all including police are stumped, another murder takes place which is even more gruesome.  Why are people being murdered? It is not a serial killer but carefully selected targets. Just when the pattern seems to be emerging, the police are at a loss as it all stops. Maya's father asks her to take his diary and escape which she does. What does the diary contain? Why does Arjun's Uncle drive non-stop from Delhi to Madhya Pradesh? What secret are they hiding and who are they fleeing from?

From Egyptian pyramids to Allahabad escapade, murders in Delhi to hidden Gurukul in Panna National Park in Madhya Pradesh, Doyle has outdone himself. This has various references from the Mahabharata which is normal to me as I have read his other books. I was a little ticked off though when he says Parikshit is the son of Arjuna but actually the grandson. Other than that, it is a page turner and is thoroughly enjoyable.

The writing is clear and if you like the parallel universe theory and portals, do pick it up to read it over the weekend.

 

You can buy it here