All
of us, at some point of time, must have wondered whether God exists or not. We have
heard thousand tales about him, know him by thousand names and take his name at
least thousand times. Ashwin Sanghi’s latest book ‘The Krishna Key’ deals with
the same question and it is apparent that the author has exhaustively
researched on Indian Mythology and its origin. The facts about Krishna, Shiva
and Indian mythology itself that he has brought up in the book had my undivided
interest; however, the plot was clichéd, at least to those who have read Dan
Brown and know Robert Langdon too well. Not just Ravi Mohan Saini’s love for history
and mythology but the symbols that Tarak Vakil leaves on his victims’ bodies point
towards Robert Langdon and his adventures.
Five thousand years ago, there
came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable
miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue
God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed
in the eventual Dark Age - the Kaliyug.
In modern times, a poor little
rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial
killer.In this heart-stopping tale, the
arrival of a murderer who executes his gruesome and brilliantly thought-out
schemes in the name of God is the first clue to a sinister conspiracy to expose
an ancient secret - Krishna’s priceless legacy to mankind.
Historian Ravi Mohan Saini must
breathlessly dash from the submerged remains of Dwarka and the mysterious
lingam of Somnath to the icy heights of Mount Kailash, in a quest to discover
the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession. From the sand-washed
ruins of Kalibangan to a Vrindavan temple destroyed by Aurangzeb, Saini must
also delve into antiquity to prevent a gross miscarriage of justice.
Ashwin
Sanghi brings you yet another exhaustively researched whopper of a plot, while
providing an incredible alternative interpretation of the Vedic Age that will
be relished by conspiracy buffs and thriller-addicts alike.
In
the beginning, the plot was interesting. There’s this hot professor and his
wannabe student, a psychopath and his Mataji, and a murder that meant their
paths would coincide. I, actually, didn’t care whether it was like Dan Brown’s or
not, for I’ve read Ashwin Sanghi’s Chanakya Chat and I know what a master
storyteller he is. Everything was going right until Radhika and Saini met. Why
did he have to run away? Why couldn’t Radhika see something that was so obvious?
Even worse, why didn’t Saini make her see sense if he was such a smartass? If
you can ignore these characters and their lack of common sense, the book makes for
a good read.
The
ending was disappointing too because I was expecting a more dramatic ending,
something spectacular from the killers but all that they did was get arrested.
Phew! Nevertheless, the supposedly fictitious facts that are cited in the book compensated
for weak plot and poor editing.
Few
such facts that got me thinking are as follows:
I didn’t know that Mohamed Ghazni
broke Somnath’s shiva linga and took the broken pieces to Ghazni only to throw
those pieces on the steps of a mosque, so all the devotees who went to mosque
would stamp them. How abominable!
Everyone with common sense will
know that Krishna – legend or not – lived before Jesus Christ’s times. Why the
hell people question his origin and compare his stories with Jesus? It’s beyond
my comprehension.
I didn’t know that six-sided star
represents union of Shiva and Shakti. Infact, my mom didn’t know too.
Drowned Dwarka could be Atlantis.
For all that we know, it could really be…
There
are many such small things that are interesting and to me, any book that gets
me thinking is a good book.
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