The Bhairav Putras by Suhail Mathur

"The Bhairav Putras" debut novel of Suhail Mathur. This book is published by Red ink publishers in 2014 and has 343 pages.

The story is set in British occupied India of 1936 in a town called Bhairavgarh, a town famous for temple of Lord Bhairav (a manifestation of Shiva) and brave inhabitants, where British decide to set up cantonment.

A motly crew of Son of a Zamindar, a Carpenter, a Dhobi, a Priest, a stable boy, an Architect, a bomb maker and a couple of Indian British soldiers decides to fight back. They are assisted by four mysterious men calling themselves Vairavar's. Existence of an ancient secret from the times of Samrat Ashok is revealed.

Will the Bhairavwasis succeed? What's in the book of Bhairav (Bhairashokapustak) from the times of Samrat Ashok? Who are Vairawar's?

Freedom struggle, resistance to British, an ancient secret that will grant immense power to the holder and mysterious Vairawars is a heady mixture and can make a very interesting story. Suhail has indeed managed to create an interesting story out of it. However I was left with a feeling that more could have been done. It could have been even more thrilling and even more interesting.

The narration is good. Story keeps you interested. However story becomes slow at the trial of revolutionaries. This being the story from old times, the things happen at their own pace.

Suhail has done a good job. As per the book he is still pursuing his BA LLB, so must be young. He has shown great promise in his first book and a good writer is in the making. We can expect more good work from him.

However in some cases author has written about past as if it happened in today's time. For example things happenned at 10.30 pm like train arrival, end of dinner etc but in those days things did not happen so late. Bira hugs his lady love in public, it did not happen publicly in those days. Word terrorist is used in the book which was not prevalent in those days.

Author has used some amusing and witty word play in the book that is delight to read. These remarks are really good. Full marks to Suhail for that. However that word play could only happen in English and revolutionaries and Indiana did not speak English, it's only the book that's written in English.

Epilogue added to the book was entirely unnecessary. Apart from sowing seeds of a sequel, it does not serve any purpose and was avoidable.

Nevertheless it's a good book. Recommend reading.

Sea of poppies by Amitav Ghosh

"Sea of poppies" by Amitav Ghosh. This book is published by Penguin India in 2009 and has 528 pages. This is Book 1 of Ibis trilogy.

The story is set in mid nineteenth century India under British rule. It's an elaborate plot with a number of characters ranging from a Bihari widow (Deeti), a lower cast youth (Kalua), a french lady born and brought up in India (Paulette), a Bengali Muslim youth (Jodu), an American mariner (Zachary), a bankrupt and convict Raja (Raja Neel Rattan), a gumasta who is a Krishna devotee (Nobkisin babu), an opium addict (Ah Fatt), a Rohingya mariner (Serang Ali) etc. By the stroke of fate all these characters congregate on a ship called Ibis destined for Marich (Mauritius).

What are their stories? Why are they heading for Mauritius? What's special about Ibis? What happens?

Each of the unrelated character, with diverse background, has it's own story. They all have a specific reason to board Ibis for Mauritius. Although their reasons differ, they have same goal: Mauritius. These individual stories are intricately woven together to create a mosaic of a fabric that becomes an exotic epic.

The book says that Indian economy was supported and sustained by the opium trade in those days. East India company had monopolized the opium business. Farmers were compelled to grow opium and sell it to East India Company.

Author has weaved an epic with rich description of India of old days in vivid colours. He has covered social issues, economic issues, disparity, piety, drug issues etc in this story. The story also contains love, longing, rivalry, deception etc. to add to the appeal of the story.

Author toggles between the stories continuously, thus keeping reader interested in this long book. Narration is apt. Author has given detailed description of a number of things like opium factory and its functioning, ship's functioning and slang, plight of Raja turned convict, sea sickness of first travelers etc. This attention to details is appreciable.

The book ends with a climax at high sea that will entice the readers to read Book 2.

A good book. A must read.

The tenth unknown by Jvalant Nalin Sampat.

"The tenth unknown", a debut novel by Jvalant Nalin Sampat. This is a historical fiction.

Samrat Ashok discovers 9 books in royal library. These books  contains secrets about warfare that includes propaganda, weaponery, rocketery, aeroplanes, space travel, communication without using a messenger etc. He entrusts 9 individuals to hide the books, in 232 BC,  and pass on the responsibility to next generations because of the importance of information and to prevent it from falling in wrong hands. He also makes them promise that their loyalty will be only to humanity and not to any king or kingdom. He calls them the 9 unknowns.

It's 1938, Hitler's Nazi forces accidentally unearth the first book and using its contents Hitler garners public opinion of the nation in favor for war. Now he wants remaining books from British India. British come to know this and want the books for themselves.

The clue to location of next book is to be found near the previous book, hence the books can only be found in sequence. The present day 9 unknowns come to know of the German and British interest and decide to find the books before them. The onus is on young Prithvi Rathore, a rich care free and intelligent man, whose grand father is the head of 9 unknowns.

The chase begins all over the world. The books are located in various parts where Hindu or Buddhist religion had reached. Will Prithvi get the books? Can he match the might of British and Nazi empires? How long does it take? Does this impact the outcome of world war? Who is the 10th unknown?

The book shows that Americans get hold of two books and that enables them to manufacture atom bomb and send man on moon. Fascinating idea, isn't it?

Although the story takes place few years before independence, the author has not used period language. He has used modern language of today in a story of yesteryears. I think by doing this author has missed a great opportunity to create the impact and atmosphere of that time.

The book takes the readers on a roller coaster ride. The backdrop of world war is used intelligently. Some of the real incidents and characters are used to supplement the fiction very well.

Rather than publishing this as a pocket book, Niyogi Books (the publisher) has used large page size, good font and adequate spacing to make the reading experience better.

The author refrains from specifying what happens to the recovered books at the end and how they were hidden again. This may be a seed for a sequel.

A good book. Recommend reading for a change.