Scion of Ishavaku by Amish Tripathi

Book: Scion of Ishavaku.

Author: Amish Tripathi (@authoramish )

Publisher: Westland Publications Ltd. (www.westlandbooks.in)

ISBN : 978 93 85152 14 6

My personal opinion in my previous reviews of author Amish Tripathis books has been, he is an awesome author, he has picked up the vastly neglected genre of Indian mythology and he has a very deft interweave of storyline and fiction and culture. I thought there were some areas which he could improve on. He has vastly improved over his first 2 books.

This is the first book of the Ramachandra series, of the epic  Indian Hindu mythological tale Ramayana. The basics of this tale are known to every child of India. It is played out by travelling theatre troupes every year in the villages and towns of India culminating in Dusherra.

Author Amish has tried a unique technique with this series, he takes the same story and explores it only from the view of one character.

Here Amish starts with Ram. The crown prince of Ayodhya. Avatar of Vishnu. God for millions of Indians. Author is nicely able to give human reasonings for his divinity.

The story is nicely traced through the growing up of the princes of Ayodhya. Each characters strengths.

Then the story focuses mainly on the 14 years of exile of Lord Ram, to keep the sanctity of  a promise.

This story tries to focus on the exile mainly and brief interactions between Rama and the asura Ravana.

But my favorite part of this book is the scene where Lord Rama encounters his future wife , Sita, Divine goddess in her own right. I have yet to read any romantic encounter that has moved me so much.

I am a definite Amish Tripathi fan. Any book of author Amish is a must buy for me.

White Mughals by author William Dalrymple

Book: White Mughals.

Author: William Dalrymple

Publisher: Penguin Books.

ISBN : 978 0143030461

The books of William Dalrymple which I have read are the ones based in the Asian subcontinent and India.

His book “Return of a King” opened my eyes to the machinations, intrigue and intricacies of international politics. How a nation like Afghanistan became the lynch pin in the affairs of mid Europe and hence an unwilling stage of an enacted world drama. One of my favorite books.

His book “The Last Mughal” was important to my understanding of Indian history transition from Mughals to the East India Companyy to British Dominion status. A nice slice of my own history.

This book also traces the same time period, but in a different sphere and different context.

This book traces a complex family tree. And is centred around a career British soldier. The soldier falls in love with a muslim Indian girl. To get her love he eventually converts to islam.

Woven around this love story are the intricacies of the Hyderabad court, its royalty, which was supposedly the most devious of all Indian royalty. The Englishman reportedly even became a double agent, working for the Nizam of Hyderabad against the East India Company.

I have liked Williams books till now. This is one more from his well researched genre.

The thing about Thugs by author Tabish Khair

Book : The thing about thugs

Author : Tabish Khair

Publisher : Harper Collins.

ISBN : 978 81 7223 978 7

This book: The things about Thugs , is the story of Amir Ali who leaves his life in hBihar to travel to England with an English Captain, William, to whom he narrates his life story, the story of a murderous thug.

While William tries to analyse the strange murderous cult of the Indian Thug, a group of Englishmen sets out to prove the inherent difference between races by examining their skulls- with bizarre consequences.

Set in Victorian London, this story of different voices from different places draws intricate lines of connection from the nineteenth to the twenty- first century, between England and India, across individual and cultural differences.

Author Khair engages between the subalternist or post colonial narrative traditions and subtly and ironically deploys echoes from Victorian literature to modern literature.

Mother Pious Lady by author Santosh Desai

Book :  Mother Pious Lady
Author: Santosh Desai
Publisher: Harper Collins (www.harpercollins.co.in )
ISBN:  978-81-7223-864-3

The author Santosh Desai is also a columnist for Times of India. The author poignantly touches upon middle class India, poised between its dreams of an upper class lifestyle and yet it lower class earnings and yearnings.He elucidates upon the India emerging from amongst its folds of customs and traditions and yet having the biggest mobile internet users in the world.

Desai writes from personal experience. The name of the Book :Mother Pious Lady is a spoof upon the Matrimonial columns seen in all the newspapers of India. The advertisements usually mention the characteristics of the person in short "Tall, fair, IIM, Engineer, joint fly (family)" and also looking for characteristics in prospective partner " Fair, slim, very beautiful, convent ed" and to add the "Indian touch of respectability"- Mother Pious Lady -Mother is a devout, god loving, pious lady.

He talks about the old and yet new Indian tradition of exchanging old clothes for steel utensils, from vendors who strut their wares from door to door. Desai talks about the handing down of old clothes, books and games from cousin to cousin, sibling to sibling. He remembers the summers holidays of joint families. The gathering of 40 people under one roof, the sharing of all possessions.

Desai also writes an ode to the old Vespa scooter, the dying world of chawls and neighbors   Desai talks about the unique Indian creations pithoo, antakshari. The joy of that late night Vividh Bharati, the Indian males predeliction for scratching in public.  

In fact why am I spoiling your fun by trying to name the small idiosyncrasies of middle class Indian life?   Go.... Buy the book.... Read it and chuckle nostalgically at every chapter. Afterall thats the biggest tension vent that we middle class Indians have.

Red Jihad by author Sami Ahmad Khan

Book: Red Jihad
Author: Sami Ahmad Khan
Publisher:  Rupa Publications India
 ISBN : 978-81-291-1987-2

 The author, Sami Ahmad Khan, I must say comes close to being the Tom Clancy of India, with his knowledge of the defence establishment, the latest developments in arms and ammunitions and the missile programmes of India..

This book, Red Jihad, encompasses the military might of India, the Chinese belligerence, the POK, the Kashmir issue, the covert Pak intrusion and extremism, the internal politics of Pakistan, the Left and the Naxalite problem in India, alongwith the lawlessness in politics.

So, the backdrop of the story is pretty vast. Story starts with a covert understanding between the Lashkar operatives and the Naxals. A common task force, between them is trained by Chinese operatives. This task force captures India’s most ambitious missile project set in a base in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. From there the terrorists unleash a missile. The missile hits Pakistan. Pakistan declares war on India. India also reels under political indecisiveness, and eventually is engulfed by a military coup. Pakistan is on the verge of unleashing Nuclear war.

Will the India Pakistan war be averted? How will the war in within Pakistan react to it? How will India react to a military coup?

And what is the twist in the tale with the Indo-Pak joint operation looking for a international terrorist in International waters, where Chinese submarines are lurking.

An interesting war story. 

The Bankster by author Ravi Subramanian

Book: The Bankster

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Publisher: Rupa Co

ISBN 978-81-291-2048-9

Bankster is a book about Banks and the men who do banking, Bankers. Banks are built upon credibility, reliability, trust. Once tarnished, a bank never rises back to trust or client confidence.

For bankers, it takes years and mind numbing exactness to build their  reputation.

So when the Greater Boston Global Bank has a series of murders amongst it personnel, its reputation and safety is at stake.  Are these murders a smoke screen or are they the doing of a banker who is turning into a bankster?

A press reporter, and a ex banker, digs deeper and stumbles upon a global conspiracy. The scandal would blow apart the bank and the entire nation.

And the story takes us to Kerala, Africa, Mumbai and jets sets at a thrilling pace. An absolute ripper of a novel by author Subramanian Ravi.  A must read action thriller. You can contact the author on twitter @SubramanianRavi

The Tainted Throne by author Alex Rutherford

Book: The Tainted Throne ( Book 4 of series www.empireofthemoghul.co.uk )

Author: Alex Rutherford

Publisher: Hachette India ( www.hachetteindia.com ) (www.headline.co.uk)

ISBN  978-0-7553-4760-5

In his series “Empire of the Moghul”, the author: Alex Rutherford, as always relies on historical facts and deftly weaves them into a fictional biographical story that encompasses the mightiest and longest dynastical rulers of India, the Moghuls.

Books, 1 to 3, dealt with Babur, Humayun and Akbar, the mightiest of the Mughal dynasty kings. The series traced the trials of Babur and his multiple attempts to rule the far flung reaches of the Indian empire. Then it enacted the rot in the Mughal dynasty with brothers fighting for the throne of Delhi. The next book touched upon the mightiest and most quoted Mughal ruler, Akbar.

Book 4 enacts the mighty infighting and deceit in the Mughal dynasty with brothers baying for each others kingdoms and blood. The intricacies of the Moghul court. The rot and heady mixture of power, wine, opium and women.

This series is a must read for every history buff, lover of adventure. But for the people of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Persia this book is a pure visual treat as we can literally see our favorite and much remembered historical characters come to life. We can watch the daily enactment of the Moghul court, the deceit,  the blood feuds, the power mongering.

This book is also juxtaposed with the start of the downfall of the Mughal empire and the advent of the European players in the drama of the Indian subcontinent….. to be more specific, the British and the East India Company.

A must read for adventure lovers and history buffs.

Vivekacudamani by Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Book: Vivekacudamani

Author: Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Publisher : Shri Gangadhareshwar Trust (Rishikesh : Phone: India 0135-430769) ( www.sastraprakasika.org )

Swami Dayanand Saraswati is a living enlightened human being. He is well versed in the Vedas and Upaniishads and also has a grasp of the modern world, sciences and society. His discourses are structured to suit the modern life and individual and yet adhere to the immutable fundamentals of atma and moksha.

Vivekacudamani is an ancient treatise. Vivekacudamani is a book addressed to the jignasu (one seeking knowledge) who desires to become a mumukshu (one seeking liberation) and desires to attain Moksha (liberation) which being an attribute of atma (soul) is therefore already attained and just to be understood.

Vivekacudamani is a collection of 108 verses selected from the Upanishads. The Lord was the creator of the 4 Vedas. The Upanishads are the treatises of various saints upon what they thought was relevant or important from these Vedas. Hence each Upanishad usually carries the name of its creator saint. This is the basis of Sanatana Dharma ( a philosophy) which is loosely (and falsely) called as Hinduism.

Any Indian sage or spiritual Guru worth his salt has written a treatise upon the Vivekacudamani.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati is very lucid and precise with his words and thoughts and is able to convey the intricacies of our Upanishads in a very clear fashion and language.

A must read for any person wishing to understand the basis of Sanatana Dharma ……. Or Hinduism.

In fact I recommend each and every book of Shri Dayanand Saraswati for his clarity of thought and his precise knowledge about your quest towards finding Moksha or Atma.

With much humility and taking the excuse of my ignorance, I find some of his books and thoughts very repetitive. But the Truth is just one and hence is bound to be repetitive.   Please persevere in your quest for the ultimate truth. 

The discourses of Swami Dayananda Saraswati are in English. Available on audio CDs.

Ruler of the World by author Alex Rutherford

Book: Ruler of the world ( Book 3 of series www.empireofthemoghul.co.uk )

Author: Alex Rutherford

Publisher: Hachette India ( www.hachetteindia.com ) (www.headline.co.uk)

ISBN 978-0-7553-4757-5

In his series, “Empire of the Moghul”, the author: Alex Rutherford, as always, relies on historical facts and deftly weaves them into a fictional biographical story that encompasses the mightiest and longest dynastical rulers of India, the Moghuls. Book 1 was the story of Babur the emperor and conqueror. Book 2 was the tale of his son and 2^nd Mughal emperor, Humayun.

Book 3 : Ruler of the world, is the story of India’s most remembered, oft quoted and oft written Mughal emperor, Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar . Or better remembered as just Akbar the great, the 3^rd Mughal emperor.

This book explores in detail how Akbar from birth itself was raised and nurtured on the battle field and in the bastions of an army perpetually on move. He was under the care of a faithful alamgir and a wet nurse, whom he called his second mother.

This book also explores Akbars rise into an individual from the cloistered confines of a protected childhood into a man who will be India’s most loved and remembered Mughal king.

But as is the curse of the Mughal dynasty, Akbar while building the modern Hindustan of his dreams has to face the salaciousness, duplicity and plotting of his own son Salim. This book explores the love of a father deftly counterposed against the duties and rigidity of an emperor.

A must read for adventure lovers and history buffs. 

The Last War by author Sandipan Deb

Book: The Last War

Author: Sandipan Deb (sandipanonline.com )

Publisher: PanMacmillan India ( www.panmacmillan.co.in) ( twitter handle: @PanMacIndia)

ISBN : 978-9-3826-1601-6

Firstly, I find the cover of the book, The Last War, one of the most interesting and visually appealing covers in the current Indian books.

This book, The Last war, by author Sandipan Deb, is based on the Classic Indian War epic  : The Mahabharata. The classical tales of grooming of the blood brothers, the deceit, the bad blood, the war mongering and the bloody battle is all recreated. This is the modern day version set amidst the hustle-bustle, the grime, the glamour, the scum, the glitterati, the fast pace and the rigid Mafioso of India’s financial capital and largest Metropolis, Mumbai, with a population of 20 million.

The story revolves around the classic concept of Mahabharata, family feuds with brothers baying for the blood of brothers.

Juxtaposed against Mahabharata storyline, 2 families of Pandanvas and Kauravas are represented by Vikram, Rishab and Jeet pitted against Rahul and Ranjit. Bothers of blood now out to annihilate the others existence. And the wiliness of Kishenbhai orchestrating the blood dance. All of this in the backdrop of the city of dreams and fame and deceit, Mumbai.

An interesting action and fast paced thriller by Sandipan Deb. Looking forward to more books.

Raiders from the North by author Alex Rutherford

Book: Raiders from the North  ( Book 1 of series www.empireofthemoghul.co.uk )

Author: Alex Rutherford (pen name for a husband wife duo)

Publisher: Hachette India ( www.hachetteindia.com ) (www.headline.co.uk)

ISBN 978-0-7553-5654-6

In his series “Empire of the Moghul”, the author: Alex Rutherford, as always relies on historical facts and deftly weaves them into a fictional biographical story that encompasses the mightiest and longest dynastical rulers of India, the Moghuls.

The book: Raiders from the North encompasses the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, Babur.

It starts in the plains of Mongolia in the mountains of Ferghana, a small mountain town where Babur, a young lad is crowned the king.

This book is interesting in the fact that though all of India knows Babur as the mighty Moghul King and conqueror, this book covers in detail the multiple attempts and failures of Babur to capture and reign over the kingdoms of Afghanistan, the plains of Hindu khush and India itself.

It shows all the trials and tribulations of a mighty conqueror, and in fact highlights the stuff that kings are made of.

The story is very deftly a weave of history and fiction from the plains of Mongolia to Persia to Afghanistan and India.

A must read for adventure lovers and history buffs.