Blending
mythological stories in modern day treasure hunt and unravelling ancient
mysteries seems to be the flavour of many authors lately. The Krishna Key by
Ashwin Sanghi follows a similar path to unravel the mysteries & secret of
Krishna.
Murder, secret, mystery, and chase – The Krishna Key has it all for a
perfect thriller but there is also a big BUT. As I kept reading I couldn’t help
but find it similar (or if I may say ‘inspired’) to some works of Dan Brown at
many places. Nonetheless, it’s all about Hindu mythology for a change.
Let’s
leave the Dan Brown element and judge it as an Indian fiction work by an Indian
author about ancient Indian mythology.
The Plot
Symbolist
Anil Varshney discovered from the ruins of Kalibangan, four seals that lead to the
secrets of Krishna. Varshney as a precaution had entrusted these four seals and
the base plate, which forms the Krishna Key, with four of his close friends. Historian
Ravi Mohan Saini – one of the guardian of the seal – is accused of murdering
Varshney.
Tarak
Vakil grows up believing he is the 10th incarnation of Vishnu – the
Kalki Avatar. Under instructions from the mysterious ‘Mataji’, he murders the
guardians in order to obtain the key and progresses towards the secret.
Aided
with only his doctoral student Priya and her lawyer father, Saini starts his
quest to discover the cryptic location of Krishna’s most prized possession and
find out the real murderer. As he advances for the other seals Saini finds these
guardians murdered in similar gruesome manner. But he must collect the four
seals to form the key and decipher the secret.
Analysis
I
should first start by applauding the author for the amount of research that he
must have done before writing. That comes out evident through the pages. You
need to keep reminding yourself that it’s a work of fiction and not fact. But
Sanghi manages to blend his exhaustive research and our oldest mythological
epic.
Coming
to the story telling its almost two stories being told – the first hand tale of
Krishna from Mahabharata and the present day account of Saini. Mahabharata is
known to probably every Indian so it holds the reader’s interest. If one didn’t
know about the Mahabharata this simplified version by Sanghi will definitely
help them. But this flashback method of writing could have been used in a
better way. There is no real connection between these two tracks. It would have
been nice to see both the storylines coming together in the end.
A
thriller is at its best when you have fast pacing actions and well etched
characters. Characterizations for many seemed blurred especially for the
character of Priya. A better editing as well as proof reading is definitely
required.
As I
mentioned earlier you will find the book very similar to The Da Vinci Code – in terms of the plot. Professor falsely accused
of murder, in quest of mythological secret – it’s upon him to decipher the Holy
Grail – only in this case it’s the Holy Grail of Hindu mythology. Remember ‘O
Draconian Devil’ or ‘So dark the con of man’ from DVC? You encounter something
similar here too but with there’s a lack of conviction or intensity.
Moreover,
when the protagonist reaches a next level for the seals he finds bodies piling
up – similar to Angels & Demons. As
you proceed towards the climax you find yourself in an anti-climax situation
like The Lost Symbol.
Sanghi
must be really having a fascination over anagrams. His first book The Roazabal Line was published under his pseudonym Shawn Haigins. You can try unscrambling it a little! [Can’t
help my detective story inspired mind :)]
My Thoughts - It is a nice and easy
read, with good descriptions and details. If you have interest in mythical mysteries you will like it. But I feel his
previous work Chanakya’s Chant is a
better work.
My Rating – 3/5
Book – The Krishna Key
Author – Ashwin Sanghi
Genre – Fiction, Thriller
Publisher – Westland
Published in – 2012
ISBN - 978-93-81626-68-9
Pages – 475
Format - Paperback
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