THE WORDKEEPERS by JASH SEN

 

Author: Jash Sen

Publication: Duckbill

ISBN: 978-93-82618-16-4

Price: INR 225

The book begins with an account of some war. This is followed by a letter from Vibhishan, the immortal king of Lanka and the brother of Ravana, of the time of Lord Rama.

A normal life of a regular busy teenager of the year 2028 is thrown topsy turvy when she receives strange messages from her mother and notices that her father's body casts no shadow in the mirror. A very strange sequence of events make her realize that she is no ordinary human, but the child of a 'wordkeeper' and is expected to live up to and act as per a prophecy. And she must rescue her mother.

Through the journey, she meets many people, who have, in their existing forms or their earlier incarnations, been characters from the great Mahabharata or the Ramayana. She discovers that she herself had been one.

Meanwhile, in the other world, in the world of the the nemesis of these wordkeepers, a handsome plan is being hatched to ensure that relevant information is collected and a trap is being laid upon the wordkeepers. This world is headed by God 'Kali'(not Goddess Kaali), the forth yug of the Hindu mithology. He has in his control, all the vices, the personifications of foul acts and all the existing demons and aims to become the sole God of the humanity.

A string of trustworthy friendships, bitter betrayals, family union, happy and sad phases, lead the teen-aged girl to discover something more about herself and take her a little further on the journey prescribed for her. And eventually, what has to happen, happens!!

An enormous eye keeps a track of all of her activities, until just before the end. 

It is interesting how the story, a very very common story of a child suddenly discovering his/her special powers (much like the characters of Harry Potter, Lexi , Henrietta and so many more in the contemporary fiction arena) is mixed with the complex story of the Hindu mythology, with a twist that incorporates all the other religions. (Kaalki, the last avatar of Lord Vishnu, is depicted through a Muslim boy here). Though the concept is brilliant and the author has done her homework really well, the final outcome falls short of the expectation that such a storyline would ideally demand. The theory of the child discovering gifted abilities has become too commonplace and childish to carry the heavy wight of the mythological tales. Though a racy narration, it becomes hard to convince oneself to read on and it gets too complex and ambiguous at places. 

A point I liked about the book is how the people, especially those of the other world, the Vishasha have been named. Dambha, Mrityu, Bhay, Vyadhi, Jara, Trishna, Shoke, Krodhe and so many more are basically the personified versions of the vices and problems we all face. For someone with a decent base of mythological knowledge, all this seems good, for others, it would have been better had a detailed glossary been give at the end.

A first of the trilogy, I think it is a fairly decent job. I hope the other two books are nice and make up for the loopholes in this one.

THE DEADLY ROYAL RECIPE by RANJIT LAL

Author: Ranjit Lal

Publisher: Duckbill

Price: INR 225

ISBN: 978 93 81626 94 8

Everyone is living a perfectly normal and happy life. Everything is going as it normally must for three friends, a little boy and a little girl. Only so long as the little girl, a princess of one of the still surviving royal families in India, decides to join a school, where she meets the three friends and the little boy. And from there on their lives go an a roller coaster ride. Only, not in an actual roller coaster, but on some of the most exquisite, expensive yet rashly driven cars.

These five kids decide to go on a tour along with the princess' uncle. There they are kidnapped and their attempt to run away from captivity only leads them into further danger. The only thing that can save them is the kids' quick wit and the princess' excellent culinary skills, which she has inherited.

The parts of the story are linked to one another so beautifully and the story literally keeps you at the edge of you seat. It is not so easy a task to put it down once you begin reading. There are times when all seems perfect and peace seems close, and... it is only the beginning of what would eventually turn out to be a real crazy sequence of events. 

From underage driving to dishes called 'sharabi suar ka bachcha' and 'angoothe ke beech ka murabba' to the most mouth watering aromas to the murky rivalry between the blue blooded families to the most dangerous car rides to sweet poisons to kind beasts and beast faced madmen to horse racing to a heartwarming homecoming, this book gives you an experience of everything. And this 'everything' revolves around a book. A single book. Well!

It isn't the regular kind of book you would like to read, review and put away. It is the kind you would want to read as fast as possible, finish up all your nails in the process, wonder, smile, close your eyes, imagine the scenes, smile again and go to a happy sleep.

Go ahead and read it if you are not afraid of scary adventures and scary captors. Not to mention that this book will be a very special delight for the foodies and those who generally believe in eating for a happy life.

The Stupendous Timetelling Superdog

Title : The Stupendous Timetelling Superdog

Author : Himanjali Sankar

Publisher : Duckbill

Rousseau is a superdog in Mrs. Ghosh's household with a unique ability to tell time through his barks, raising of his forelimbs  and thumping of tail. Mrs Ghosh and her two daughters - Aanya and Kaayva dote on their pet dog and have gotten used to the fact that their dog is capable of doing much more than what a regular canine does.

There are these Orange Marmaladies from the Black Hole of Time who were the original timekeepers of the universe and who used to enjoy the company of humans very much before humans became self sufficient in terms of tracking time.  Now Marmaladies feel ignored and uncared for and worst of all, humans do not seem to notice them at all, they have become invisible in human world. To get their visibility and friendship with humans back they think of a drastic plan. They stop all the time showing devices in the human world but unfortunately contrary to their beliefs,  nothing changed. The humans still can not see the Marmaladies. However, a few things happened in the human world - they realize how utterly dependent all of them have become on time and without time their whole world becomes chaotic.

Now there is only one creature who can actually bring some semblance in the timeless world even without the assistance of  any clocks or watches - its Rousseau and thanks to the dog, Ghosh's household is still running smoothly. The dog becomes the subject of study for many around the world and the superdog becomes a superhero. But are the humans able to see and acknowledge Marmaladies again? Will the Marmaladies get back their long lost togetherness with humans? Will the time telling devices start working again?

Besides being a fun packed story full of madness for children it has another introspective angle to it too. I feel Orange Marmaladies are much more than strange creatures from outer world. These are our own and other's feelings which we have stopped responding to because of our always running to meet the deadlines routine. A smile here, a little nod there, an acknowledgment of some feeling, listening to somebody, sharing somebody's sorrows - anything could be one of the Marmaladies and the same are becoming 'invisible' in the self-centered culture.

So 'The Stupendous Timetelling Superdog' is indeed a thought provoking tale and this aspect of Marmaladies should be discussed with the young readers after they are done reading the story once. I am sure it would enhance the pleasure of reading this tale much more as they start to appreciate the idea of layered characterization and the importance of human values which conveniently get sacrificed at the altar of paucity of time.