Five Thousand Years ago and Today. Ashwin Sanghi in his
characteristic style weaves a story that blends mythology, fact and fiction. A
huge amount of research is sprinkled liberally in the whole novel that adds to
the story and sometimes confounds the reader.
After a chartbuster Chanakya’s Chant, Ashwin Sanghi writes on similar
lines juxtaposing two parallel stories of a long bygone past of thousands of
years ago and the present day.
The Story (or Stories I should say)
Two stories are included in this novel – The first one is
the familiar story of Krishna as narrated by Krishna Himself. This story
precedes the present day story in every chapter. The second story is set in the
present day and revolves around a thrilling mystery unraveled by professor and
historian Ravi Mohan Saini around the ‘Krishna Key’.
The second story that is new to us starts with a ruthless
assassin murdering a scientist Varshney who was at that very moment engaged in
deciphering a cryptic ancient seal with three ancient animal motifs. Varshney’s old friend Saini unfortunately visits
him before his murder and is accused of his murder. The story zips along with Saini
fleeing from the police with his trusted accomplice and student, Priya in tow.
Saini discovers that the killer is after the four seals that Varshney
had been killed for. Fortunately, three of the seals were entrusted to him and two others scientists.
These four formed a set of four or the ‘Krishna Key’ that could lead to a
priceless legacy left by Krishna.
The reader gets introduced to the killer who is a protégé of
a mysterious ‘Mataji’. The killer has grown up believing himself to be Vishnu’s
tenth avatar, the Kalki Avatar but commits the crimes unflinchingly as instructed
by his ‘Mataji’. The competent police office Radhika Singh and her subordinate
Rathore are hot on Saini’s trail as he tries to decipher the cryptic clues,
prevent more murders from happening and identify Varshney’s killer.
The story flits across diverse locations of the desert in
Kalibangan, under sea ruins of Dwarka, the icy peaks of the Himalayas, the
milky white Taj Mahal and the lingam of Somnath. A trailer that is released on
YouTube also highlights these locations.
My opinion
I enjoyed the book for the fast paced story and many of the
facts drawn from Sanghi’s research. His
research explained that the mythical river Sarswati might have watered the
Indus Valley Civilization, and that the Mahabharata really did happen. It was
also revealed that the ancient city of Dwarka may have been built on reclaimed
land and is now submerged under water.
However, the large amount of research that was presented in
this book was its biggest failing. I grant that the author has been thorough in
his research BUT, way too much of the research has been dumped on the unsuspecting
reader. It is almost as though he wanted
to tell us everything that he had researched whether or not it had too much
bearing to the story. Some crisp editing
might indeed have helped.
The other grouse I have is that I could not follow right to
the end the supposed parallel between the two story lines. Unlike his previous
work Chanakya’s Chant where the old and the new stories comingle with ease, I
had to re-read the two stories but could still not make out the parallel tracks
for many. If Sanghi wanted to narrate the story of Krishna, he might as well
have written a separate book on it.
Many had already called Ashwin Sanghi the Indian Dan Brown
in this book, a comparison I tried hard to ignore. By and by, unfortunately,
the similarities grew and the feeling of inspiration from the Da Vinci Code was
unshakeable. Although, as a Hindu
mythology buff, reading a story in a more familiar context was enjoyable
nevertheless.
My Verdict
With its fast pace, diverse locations, and ample thriller
elements, this book is definitely written as a script for a movie. I would give
it a 3.5 stars on 5. Read it, but be prepared to be confounded by a sea of
research that might send you scurrying to Google to verify facts!
To check out the you-tube trailer of the book see - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyiz7okQx8I
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