A Rational Mind

Review of the Novel by Ashwin Sanghi

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I am not going to write this book review in the normal manner. I will not make sections titled “Plot”, “Analysis” & “Verdict” as is the usual protocol world over. I want the readers to have a flow. Try to take them on a roller-coaster ride, thrill them because this is the same manner in which “The Krishna Key” is written! Though the book has some shortcomings, it definitely leaves the readers  wanting for more!

First and foremost, I am extremely grateful to Ashwin Sanghi for highlighting ancient Indian Culture and telling the Indian youth (And Old people) the extent of our prosperity and scientific advances when the rest of the world was still struggling with Stone Age.

For those who have come across Ashwin Sanghi for the first time, he is the author of the best-selling The Rozabal Line and award-winning Chanakya’s Chant. His third book – which by far seems the most deeply researched to me- is The Krishna Key.

Sanghi’s story starts with the introduction of the most interesting character of the book – Taarak Vakil, the poor little rich boy – who believes he is Kalki, Lord Vishnu’s 10th Avtar and is here on the planet to destroy all evil. I would have loved this character to be explored a little bit more but alas some sacrifices have to be made for the sake of the story.

Taarak’s first victim is Anil Varshney, a brilliant researcher who has stumbled upon something very mysterious, something which leads to the secret that Krishna – the Govardhan Giridhaari- had locked away somewhere to keep it safe from those seeking power. Anil Varshney’s death enters the protagonist – 45 years young Ravi Mohan Saini who teaches the history of mythology at St. Stephen’s College.Saini becomes an unlikely detective who uses his vast knowledge to track down his friend’s killer and solve this amazing riddle left by our beloved Blue God – Lord Krishna!

The book then takes you an amazing ride across the country and includes locations like Jaisalmer, Mt. Kailash, Somnath Temple and so on. The the trail is dotted by some more murders by none other than Taarak. Some more very interesting characters enter the fray – Inspector Radhika Singh, Mataji and Sir Khan being the prominent ones. I really wish, Sanghi had been able to color these characters more.

Although the story does get a bit complex due to the amount of information that this book contains it is definitely worth a read. There are some errors in the printed version which maybe due to careless proof-reading but I guess such errors will be rectified in the coming editions.

Sanghi follows the similar style of narrating the story as employed in Chanakya’s Chant – that of running two stories parallel to each other. One set 5000 years ago and the other as it happens in the 21st Century. However, this style seems unnecessary here as both the stories have hardly anything in common unlike Chanakya’s Chant. It does sometime seem that we are being re-told the story of Mahabharata in the parallel narrative.

However, according to me the real reason for reading this book is not the story and mystery that surrounds The Krishna Key, but the magnificent history of our country! The reason I say history and not mythology is because these incidences – Mahabharata, Ramayana have actually happened in this country, evidences of Pushpak Vimana and the possibility of Indians having the knowledge of Nuclear weapons have been found. Moreover, due to various external aggressions that took place over a period of time and the bad habit of not recording many historical events, the knowledge has been lost in the pages of time. But I am sure, on reading ‘The Krishna Key’ some proud Indians will definitely delve into the pages of history and strive to find out more about our civilization! And for that one should read ‘The Krishna Key’!

And for that, I thank you, Ashwin Sanghi!

- Pranjal Wagh

PS: A special mention has to be made for the man who drew all the wonderful illsutrations/maps in the book – Rupesh Talaskar! Great Work!!

This work by Pranjal A. Wagh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License