The Vault of Vishnu - book review

The Vault of Vishnu
by Ashwin Sanghi
Genre : Fiction

"One cannot avoid death unless one is already dead.Even then one cannot avoid the endless cycles that follows." 

The above quote from the novel is so apt and comforting in these Covid-19 time.

The novel starts brilliantly in Doklam and with a lot of promise. But Sanghi doesn't meet the reader's expectation as the pace just doesn't slowdown but almost stops before it picks up for a while before it is again brought down to a painful trot. The author kills you slowly as he strays away from the main story to narrate  Xuanzang's travels to India which lasted for over 19 years. This completely breaks the pace of narration as it keeps to start,long stop, start, long stop formula.  Sanghi could have easily used a single sentence or at the maximum a paragraph or even a page to reveal why Xuanzang's  travel was important just as he did it for Faxian's travel to India or Bodhidharma's travels to China.

I had hoped this novel would beat his Chanakya's Chant but it is worse than his Krishna Key where at least the pace was good with extremely well formed characters. Also, the author doesn't understand the difference between AI and genetic mutation which he seems to confuse while writing the book. I laughed out loud when I came across his explanation of the name Ikoalikum, the head of the mysterious tribe. Sanghi must have used Google translate to translate I Akankaramazhikum would have made more sense but I had to remind myself Sanghi probably doesn't know Tamizh or have Tamizh friends. Also he has hurriedly tried to cover everything just because of Doklam conflict and Xi's visit to Mahabalipuram.

The only good thing about the book is Hanuman. Strange I should be writing this on Hanuman Jayanti. The ending is almost satisfactory but getting through the book was a challenge. If you like challenges and since we are in a lock down, you might try reading the book.

Don't Tell The Governor - book review

Don't Tell The Governor                                                                                                                     by                                                                                                                                                                          Ravi Subramanian

Genre: Fiction

If you are wondering why the Indian economy is tottering, this would be the book to read. It explains how the autonomous Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came under the thumb of the current Indian Govt. by establishing the Monetary Policy Committee that removed the RBI Governor’s veto power, the printing of currency notes by a British company, the IPL fixing scandal, terrorism funding and how all these are connected.

The author tries to explain a whole lot of current events in simple English instead of banking language and this includes demonetization. This makes the thriller interesting but the protagonist is caught in a honey trap while the crooks get away making the ending bland. The pace is fast and if you like puzzles, you can try decoding the names of the people who the author is referring to in his book. I love puzzles, so I was stunned by what I found. For India watchers, the events described would be familiar but for others who are not familiar with political and economic events, this might be just a thriller.

The writing is simple and clear. The author explains how banks work, what are NPAs, etc. in a way that even ordinary people can understand. While Indian media did not give the kind of attention they should have to Panama Paper leaks, the author does and explains money laundering, why diamond jewellers seem to be fleeing the country including a jeweller who was a former IPL team owner and also a gold Ponzi scheme runner, etc.

Is the system being cleaned? The answer appears to be no as India appears to have replaced the system with an even worse system.

If you wish to buy the book click  HERE

Raavan : Enemy of Aryavarta

I just finished the much awaited book by Amish Tripathi. Halfway through the book, I knew who Sita was going to be and why Raavan would kidnap her. However, Amish Tripathi never fails to surprise you. 

Raavan or Ravanan to me is the most interesting of the three books of the Ramayana series. Tripathi justifies the kidnapping of Sita which took me by surprise. Raavan is the protective brother who becomes a thief. The thief who becomes a pirate. The pirate who becomes a warrior. The warrior who becomes king. The king who is shaped by enmity between two men to become the ultimate villain which he is definitely not. One tends to be able to read this book and sympathize with the ultimate villain. Maybe because heartache and heartbreak is something universal that all people can relate to?

It is a book that doesn't follow the epic and the villain bashing that is practiced during Dusshera. Zipping through his childhood, the boy spurned by his father, his chance encounter with a little girl who he is unable to forget and whose memory always makes want to be a better person, the young man who loves books, music, painting and becomes an accomplished artist, the scholar who becomes a trader, the trader who becomes a warrior, the warrior who finally becomes Lanka's emperor but would do anything for his younger brother and son. The story zips through 60 years of Raavan's life before he kidnaps Sita whom he has never seen!

It is an amazing story along with the birth of his brother Kumbhakarna from whose birth on, their mother and the sons are on the run for their lives. Kumbhakarna is equally interesting as this book as much as about Raavan as it is about Kumbhakarna, the brother Raavan saves from being murdered on the instructions of his father.The rest come much later. It is interesting balance to the usual Ram-Laxman duo who are praised while the other brother duo is usually forgotten Raavan-Kumbhakarna which Tripathi highlights.

The twist in Vaali's tale was so surprising that I couldn't help but wonder. Same for Vishwamitra and Vashishta.

I can't wait for the next book even though we all know how it will end. 

If you are interested in reading the book, you can buy it here

Can Unconditional Love Go Wrong?

Truly till the end of Time
By Abhishek Sanwal
BlueRose Publishers, 2019
Genre: Fiction

                               

Luv (named after the eldest son of Sita) gets a mysterious text from his college buddy Adi years after they graduated and settled down. It reads, “The biggest achievement in life –tears in someone’s eye for you. The biggest failure in life – tears in someone’s eyes because of you.” Worried, he rushes over to meet Adi. Adi’s wife and parents are completely unaware of the state Adi is in. He finds Adi in a darkened room alive and just when he is relieved Adi is okay, Adi gives him something to read – his diary from four years ago when they were still students. 

Set in Chennai, this is not just the story of four college buddies Adi, Jhilmil, Luv and Chabbi but also of Neel and Ria. It uncovers the life of north Indians in South India and the author shuts out the southern atmosphere, people, language, culture,  using blah, blah which is amusing and irritating  at the same time. The characters speak English, Hindi or Hinglish. Just when you think it might get boring or you know what is going to happen next, there are surprise twists and turns that keeps you reading taking you along paths which shock you. The ending is a big surprise.

While reading the book I realized how men are allowed to retain their friendships by Indian society while women slowly drop out of contact because they are forced to move after marriage – an unfair deal or the ending might have been different.  The story carries with it some insights into how Indian society works, especially for a north Indian person in South India and their terms of acceptance of South Indian culture.

The writing is slow in the beginning and picks up pace as the story moves forward. The prose style leaves a lot to be desired but the author will go places if he gets a good editor. Otherwise a nice summer read.

If  you wish to buy the book,click  here

A Matter of Latitude

A Matter of Latitude
by Isobel Blackthorn
Genre : Mystery/Suspense Thriller


What would you do if your artist-activist husband disappears on your daughter's birthday - a birthday your husband would never miss? Would you turn into a sleuth or would you just register a police complaint and hope for the best? Do we really care about the exotic places we travel to ? While complaining about environment degradation, don't we also seek out the tourist comforts and are willing to pay heavily in these exotic holiday destinations ? Is development and corruption intertwined ? Are we as tourists actually encouraging corruption and destruction of the environment? What exactly is development ? These are questions that Isobel Blackthorn asks and answers in her wonderful book, "A Matter of Latitude".

Set in Lanzarote,one of the Canary Islands administered by Spain, Blackthorn hooks you from the first page. The author has an unusual style of narration, using two POVs, that of the artist-activist Celestino Diaz and the other one of the British Paula Diaz who is Celestino's wife searching for him. The story keeps gathering pace with mysteries galore and the reader hoping Celestino doesn't die. Blackthorn not only reveals just enough to wet one's appetite for more about Celestino Diaz but also throws enough puzzles the reader's way via her other lead character Paula to keep you trying to solve just when there are more twists and turns thrown in.

The writing style is unusually crisp and effective despite the two POVs which are made clear to the reader in her first two chapters. The pace is steady as you try to figure out if Celestino Diaz will live or die.

This is a definitive must read as it not only tantalizes but also makes you ponder about the larger issues at hand - corruption, environment and development. I will say this much, your vacations and your view of developing and under developing countries  and corruption will never be the same again.

If you are looking for a good mystery book, this is the one to get. You can buy it here.

Keepers of the Kalachakra - book review

Keepers of the Kalachakra
by Ashwin Sanghi
420 pages, Westland
Genre: Thriller

Leaders and people holding important positions in governments die  across the world in a mysteriously similar manner. No one understands how this is happening. Simultaneously sinkholes are appearing world wide killing ordinary people. One secret organization appears to be responsible for it as they believe in eliminating liberals and promoting right wingers while  working in tandem with an a Islamic fundamentalist who is the fountainhead of  spreading radical Islam worldwide. Both believe the clash of civilizations is inevitable and has to be hastened Can they be stopped ? Ashwin Sanghi asks and answers these questions in his novel, Keepers of the Kalachakra.

Zigzagging from the lawns of the Whitehouse US to mysterious labs in India, from  Russian secret service  to facilities in China, Sanghi begins well. Once inside the secret lab facility and in trying to explain the Tibetan Book of the Dead, he loses pace. He picks it up again with action sequences but frankly it is a bit disappointing when he tries to explain Hindu and Buddhist philosophy as well as Christian, Jewish and Islamic history as it stretches the reader's patience as so much info is dropped in, especially in the middle of an action sequence.

All said and done, the ending will leave you stunned if you read the book completely. I will say a brisk beginning, intriguing center that slowly drops into a winding read and a fast and stunning end that will leave people wondering if this is what is really happening as it is too close to actual political events.

Don't include all your research Mr. Sanghi in your books. Fascinating as it is, it slows down the thriller.

If you wish to buy the book, go here  Click to buy it from Amazon

Before Baahubali - The Rise of Sivagami

The Rise of Sivagami
by Anand Neelakantan
492 pages, Westland, 2017
Genre : Fiction
Language : English and mutliple Indian languages.


With people going mad about Baahubali2 - the conclusion, and social media pointing out the box office record - 1000 crores in nine days already, I am sure the director must be a happy man. However, I would suggest, people like me who have not seen the movie yet, read the book first to get a sense of people,  place and its history. This was missing in Baahubali 1.

How did a casteless society descend into slavery and child murder? Why are the corrupt allowed to live while the innocent murdered without question ? How did Mahishmathi descend to such a level and to protect what secret? Why is skin color which was unimportant before now so important? Neelakantan asks and answers these questions and more in his book, The Rise of Sivagami.

Sivagami is an orphan whose father, Devarayya is killed and branded a traitor. Her only aim in life is to demolish the royal family and seek revenge for her father's death. Neelakantan tells the story of orphan Sivagami and her rise to the level of Bhoomipathi - a title her father once held.  By telling the story of Sivagami and her  friend Kamakshi, we are also taken through the stories of young slaves obedient Kattappa and his rebellious brother Shivappa who longs for freedom, the young princes Bijjala and Mahadeva, siblings who are complete opposites in character, the original tribes who had been driven out of their land and are forced to take refuge in the forest by betrayal and not by war, the pirates who raid villages, rape women and kidnap children so they can be sold in the kingdom while the royal family and the bureaucrats of the kingdom turn a blind eye. It is a place where loyal people are killed while the corrupt are rewarded. What is damning secret in the document that Sivagami finds in the ancient language which she cannot read?

The pace is fast. The prose is poetic at many points but predictable at times if you had already seen Baahubali 1 in which some of the scenes slowly makes sense now. Since this is a story of three generations and a horrible secret hidden from the people of the kindgom, I look forward to reading the sequel as the book ends abruptly with a teaser - Sivagami now has to kill her father's best friend or be killed. And how does she go from being the destroyer of the royal family to becoming its Raja Matha?

Go here to buy the book