I had thought I had reviewed this
book long time back. While going through my blog posts, I couldn’t figure this
one out. And I realized I had started writing this review and then left mid way
and completely forgot about it. How could I do that I have no idea.
Apologies
to Lead Start & the author from my end. I don’t know the reason for this
memory loss, but looks like I did forget, like the other day when I left the
pressing iron on for the whole day!
Anyways, let me get on with the
book review. If you are born and brought up in India, you can never escape the
mighty epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Mahabharata still remains a favourite
story of all times for me, because of the grandeur, the complexity, the might,
and for its distinct characters. And yes Krishna & Arjuna are my favorite
characters of all time. I am no one to tell you whether the mythological
characters were true, whether they lived here in this land and had magical
powers, it’s on your belief system. But when you are just a reader, the
characters itself are more than enough to keep you engulfed. [I have reviewed
Arjuna by Anuja Chandramouli and you can read it here.] There are times when
you need to come above the fact that these characters in our epics are gods or
demons with magical powers, and think of them as men, as leaders, and people of
flesh and blood and not people capable of doing magic. The author, Anand
Neelkantan, takes a very similar stand in his book.
Asura the Book
Coming to Asura, this takes us back to Ramayan another mighty epic and shows
us Raam & Ravan in a whole new light. It is the story of the Aryans &
Dravidians and how they got translated as Devas
and Asuras. They were all mass leaders – Brahma,
Vishnu, Shiva became powerful and became the epitome of leadership because
of the followers. Not necessarily always with their magical powers. Both of
these sects – Devas & Asuras were
conquerors clashing with each other at numerous times.
Ravana, the Asura, is
born of a Brahmin father and a Asura mother. He gathers followers against Kubera, his brother, who doesn’t treat
him fair and is ruling the Sri Lankan throne with Iron hands. He succeeds in it
and becomes a powerful leader and conqueror. His might grows so big that he is
able to conquer till the Himalayas. Sita
is potrayed as Ravan & Mandodari’s daughter in this book. (Wait
till you read more). Ravana, fearful of Sita’s fate bringing dark clouds of
danger over his kingdom, sends her away to get rid of her. But she emerges in
the kingdom of King Janaka, who
brings her up as his daughter. [So that’s how it gets connected to our Ramayana].
And the story goes on to the ‘vanavas’, the ‘apaharan’ and the war.
Bhadra is a new character here who is a blind supporter of Ravana as a result of getting unfair
treatment from the Devas. Bhadra becomes ruthless and goes on to
build and consolidate the Asura
community which is based on physical force, ambition, killings (much like what
you see today).
My thoughts
The author definitely has some
imaginations. It is difficult to write a different situation to an already
popular and religious scripture. The way he creates the society structure of
the Devas and Asuras are amazing. As you think about history and the caste
divided system of our society earlier, it feels like maybe that is what the situation
was. The social ladder of the Devas became murkier down the order with
untouchables and Asura society had a socialist stand.
I found this quite an interesting.
But the book is huge. May be we could have kept some detailing on check. But
then it’s the author’s prerogative to decide how much detailed he wants his
story to be.
About the Author
Anand Neelkantan debuts with this novel. Asura
also happens to be one of the best sellers of 2012. His next book is Ajaya
which is also released now. From the corporate word to writing it’s a good
change that he has made. He also writes columns in leading News dailies. You
can read more about him in his website
My Rating – 4/5.
It’s a very interesting read if you like mythology, and fiction
Book – Asura: Tale of the Vanquished
Author – Anand Neelkantan
Genre – Thriller
Publisher – Leadstart Publishing
Published in – 2012
Format - Hard bound
ISBN 13 –
ISBN 10 –
Pages – 500
Price – INR 299
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This book was sent by the publisher Leadstart Publishing. These are entirely my own views and I try not to be biased while reviewing.
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