Immortal by Krishna Udayasankar

'Immortal' by Krishna Udayasankar. This book is published by Hachatte India in 2016 and has 389 pages. 

Prof. Bharadwaj is a historian for hire. In reality he is Ashwatthama, the immortal. Maya Jervois approaches him to find Vajra, the object that's supposed to have alchemical properties of turning metal to gold and immortality for humans. 

Will Bharadwaj accept? Who is Maya working for? Does Vajra exist? What will Ashwatthama do?

Alchemy is a subject that has fascinated many from Chengiz Khan to Newton. The quest for it has never succeed but has never stopped either. Every human in a position of immense power has desired it. It's a good seed for the story that has been used numerous times previously. 

Inevitably the search for Vajra turns into a hunt with cryptic clues, symbols, references, inferences and legends. The team of Bharadwaj, Maya and Manohar embark on a journey. During their journey they aquire company. The story moves from Delhi to Somnath to Arunachalam to Balochistan and back. There are discoveries, altercations, fights, deaths and betrayals. 

Ashwatthama has lived forever and has been witness to a lot of things. He continued his life by changing identities, proffessions and countries. He was soldier most of the time. Thus he witnessed crucifixion of Christ, has been involved in Singaporean resistance of Japanese army, was part of Azad Hind Sena, was there during the time of Greeks, Turks etc. He met many famous personalities like Maharshi Ramana, Jabir etc. He has continued to live the life of an immortal, an aberration. Is it a boon or a curse or an anomaly?

The book discusses a number of philosophical and scientific things. A lot of research, Indian as well as non Indian, has gone into writing of this book.

The story is not uniform in pace. At times it gets boring. At times it is exciting. There is a traitor that I could recognize but then there is another one that I didn't. The end of book appears stretched. Author should have ended earlier on a tantalizing turn full of ambiguity and hope. 

Why did I read this book? Ashwatthama. 

What I didn't like? Length. End. 

What did I like? Metaphor of alchemy. Philosophical and scientific discussion. 

Read if you have time.