this secret and he has a safety net. He had sent the clues to the secret to four of his most trusted friends. When he is murdered, the safety of this secret lies in the hands of those four people, but
even they are turning up dead.
When bodies start dropping around him, Professor Saini is one of the main suspects, while little do authorities realize that Professor Saini is one of the targets too. In order to save himself from the
actual murderer and the police, he has no other choice than to solve the puzzle. The only people he can rely on are a doctoral student and a criminal lawyer. The chase and the hunt begin as Professor Saini tries to bring together all the four parts and put together the Krishna key.
Does the plot sound familiar to you? Yes, the plot is similar to that of Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and Professor Saini’s character similar to Robert Langdon. Since I have also watched the movie – Tom Hanks kept popping up in my mind while reading this book. If I had not known about Da Vinci Code, I would probably be going all gaga over this book. But the fact remains that I do know and so this book feels like nothing but an Indian adaption of the original. Even if I look at it that way, there’s still a problem with it since it is very clear that the author has written the book in a way so as to cater to the International market. Some of the common terms in India have been replaced by the common American terms for the same thing. I mean really? It’s like getting a plate of authentic Chinese Fried Rice, adding a bit of ghee and black pepper; stir frying it and then selling it back to the Chinese under the name of ‘Pulayo’. Granted that the author has tried to take a different approach, but with the similar outline and protagonist, it is difficult to be different.
However, I have to acknowledge the hard work that the Author must have put into the book.
From Mahabharata to the Vedas to the different Indian civilizations, he has thoroughly researched everything. I had no idea about a lot of things that were mentioned in the book and I was intrigued enough to actually look them up. Also, to actually build that information up and providing them in a package of thriller must have been difficult. Ashwin Sanghi command over the language is extremely good. With a few exceptions of very clichéd dialogues and intentional use of American terms, his language is definitely a plus point of the book.
So overall, I would say that this book excels in aspects of research that has gone into it and also its presentation. It would serve as a good and healthy dose of Indian history, but end of the day, it still reminds me too much of Da Vinci Code and since that was published first; the credit of originality definitely goes to Dan Brown.
Would I recommend this book to anyone? Perhaps I would recommend this book those who are more interested in reading about Indian mythology & history and also to those who haven’t read Dan Brown.
-Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay
Post a Comment