Pokharan by Uday Singh

​"Pokharan" by Uday Singh - Boom or Fizzle?

This book is published by Bantam Press in 2012 and has 368 pages. 

Pokharan blasts in 1974. Pride for the country. But was there a fallout of the destination on the populace nearby? Chaitanya is born Quadriplegic. But he is sharp and achieves unprecedented success when he joins MIT. What can he do for his home twin Pokharan?

Why is father murdered? Why are seemingly unrelated 6 people kidnapped? What does Chaitanya want? What are the founding principals of Life, Liberty and Level playing field?

The story starts interestingly.  Readers readily connect with Chaitanya. Good journey from birth to MIT is a bit jerky. I mean the narration is jerky. Sometimes author takes his own time and on other occasions he runs through years. Nevertheless, readers remain interested because they know what happened at the end. The book is a flash back. 

But then in the last 100 pages of the book, when one expects the graph to rise and reach crescendo, it kind of fizzles out. Readers rue the missed opportunity. The anticipation that was built up dissipates. The readers ask ‘why?’

If this was the ultimate purpose, then the buildup was more of a red herring. If buildup was correct, then climax was not achieved. 

A lot of unaccounted promise. 

Why did I read this book? Title. 

What did I like? Build-up. 

What I didn't like? Fizzle. 

Give it a miss.