The mountain of light by Indu Sundaresan

"The mountain of light" by Indu Sundaresan. This book is published by Washington Square Pr in 2013 and has 324 pages.

Koh-i-noor is literally translated as Mountain of light. This is the story of world famous diamond Koh-i-noor, spanning over forty years. Maharaja Ranjit Sing, King of Punjab empire, acquired Koh-i-noor from Shuja, the exiled king of Afghanistan under his protection. Punjab Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh encompassed Peshawar, Multan, Lahore, Srinagar and today's Punjab. Story starts from here, takes us through the upheavals after death of Ranjit Singh, last king of Punjab Daleep Singh, transfer of Kohinoor to the British, Daleep Sing's attempts to retrieve it and his eventual death.

How does the custody of Kohinoor pass until it landed in the hands of British? Who wore it when it was with Punjab empire? What is the curse on Kohinoor? Who presented it to the queen of England?

The book enlightens us about Kohinoor and change of its custody. It's a fiction based on facts. One feels like one is reading a history rather than a story. The story is mostly slow, boring with patches of interest in between. It lacks pace and excitement.

A number of sub stories are left incomplete. Reader wonders what happened to those stories, how they culminated and why were they added in the book, in the first place.

It was interesting to know that Maharaja Ranjit Singh employed a number of foreigners including two Italian generals (Paolo Avitabile & Ventura), a Romanian surgeon (Hanigberger), a French governer (Allard) & an American (Josiah Harlan)

I had to be determined not to abandon reading the book. I completed the book only because of my curiosity about Kohinoor.

Give it a miss.

The Princess in black by Upendra Dharmadhikari & Changali Anand

"The Princess in black" by Upendra Dharmadhikari & Changali Anand. This book is published by Shrishti Publishers and Distributers in 2014 and has 204 pages.

A Mughal artifact is stolen from Delhi museum. A young lady, Saima Azmi, bravely retrieves it. DIA (Defense intelligence agency) ropes in Narayan Shastri, Professor of History, to understand what's so special for it to be stolen and if it has a connection with sighting of Major Salim Khan of ISI in same museum, a few days ago.

The story then takes us to the past of Salim and the one person he loves most. It also takes us back in time to the period of Mughals (Babur, Humayun, Akber, Jahangir, Shahjahan and Aurangzeb.) and Noor-e-Jahan, a diamond three times bigger than Koh-i-Noor.

What is the artifact? Is it the destination or means? Why is ISI interested? How are Mughals involved? What will Indian defense personnel do?

The book is based on riddles and clues from Mughal period. Professor Shastri is there to solve the puzzles. But someone else is also on the trail. So it's a race. Authors have a good writing style. A thriller in present day India based on Mughal period is an interesting novelty. I finished the book in one journey.

On page 100, there is an editorial mistake where the name of traitor is revealed by mistake. This is an unpardonable mistake. Intelligent readers would guess the traitor nevertheless. Authors should have buried the identity of the traitor deeper. This book has Mughal period clues where one clue leads to another. However the transition is not perfect, it's a little stretched or even far fetched. Although villains interest in the diamond is curiously understandable, the reason why the Villain is after the diamond appears to be weak and should have been strengthened. Editors should have used some separation symbols to separate two scenes. Lack of it made the reading difficult.

Noviceness of the authors to this form of writing is evident but should go away with time. Authors had probably thought of two endings for the story. However rather than selecting one, somehow, both of them are retained in the book on page 200 & 201. How can this happen? Another unpardonable editorial blunder. The book ends with a provision for a sequel.

An OK book. Read if you are interested in Mughal period.