Book Review: The Krishna Key

'The Krishna Key' by Ashwin Sanghi is a fabulous read. One cannot escape the thought of seeing similarities in concept with 'Angels and Demons' or The 'Da Vinci Code' of Dan Brown, but the adaptation and creativity involved in setting it in Indian context is extremely appealing. The characters and the interweaving of them with Indian Mythology is something to appreciate. No wonder, a lot of study and data collection has been into it and the effort is visible. Anil Varshney,the youngest linguist and symbolist of India, who had spent significant portion of his work-life at archaeological sites had found four seals and a base-plate in Kalibangan site. The seals formed a prized possession and in order to safe-guard them, Prof Varshney keeps each seal with three trusted friends of his and saves the base-plate with himself.

Taarik Vakil, a serial killer and a firm believer of his being the kalki avatar (the 10th) of Lord Krishna, whose motive is to retrieve the seals starts plotting and killing the current owners of the seals to own them. He is richly influenced by Mataji, who as a teacher in his school-days had heavy impact on him. Prof.Ravi Mohan Saini,a Historian and one of the best friends of Prof.Varshney, who had possessed one of the seals, is suspected of killing him and others who possessed the other seals. With eminent police force led by Ms. Radhika, how Mr. Saini escapes from the police-clutches and decodes and uses the hints to unveil the mystery is the core of the story. In Mr.Saini's efforts, is a helping hand given by his doctoral student,Priya. 

At every stage, how the modern facts are linked and traced back to the mythological aspects,is very impressive and convincing. The story is well built and unfolds at a brilliant pace keeping the reader engrossed and amazed at the research gone into information gathering. How the author can convince the reader that nuclear weapons existed back in the ages of Krishna and how the astronomical data indicates the happenings of the past are convincing enough, aren't they? 

 The juxtaposition of the Krishna-avatar bits and the current story makes it a wonderful read. An awesome thriller with a surprising climax is worth a read. A different genre in Indian context. It would be criminal to prospective readers to reveal the juicy details of the story and turn a spoiler, although can't help but appreciate every bit of literature in there. If you were a strong believer earlier that Maharabharata didn't really happen, this book makes an attempt to think otherwise, with its own logic and narration. If that it can do, its a significant attempt for it is trying to question our belief of ages and gives an interpretation to the story we have heard of Krishna and Mahabharata for ages!

 This is my first read of Ashwin Sanghi's books and most certainly will not be the last one. It has opened the avenue for a new genre and a great writer for me and I will certainly read his 'Chanakya Chant' and 'The Rozabal Line'. All in all, a must-read thriller and my rating 4/5.
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