A personalized souvenir to cherish forever from 'THE ASHWIN SANGHI"
Inviting to yet another rollercoaster ride of “historical thriller”, Ashwin Sanghi traces the wheel of time in his novel, Keepers of Kalachakra. If one reads its back cover, one will find quite a mouthful premise about what the book is all about.
“Zigzagging from Rama’s crossing to Lanka to the birth of Buddhism; from the origin of Wahhabism to the Einsteinian gravitational wave-detectors of LIGO; from the charnel-grounds of naked tantric practitioners to the bespoke suits of the Oval Office; and from the rites of Minerva, shrouded in frankincense, to the smoke-darkened ruins of Nalanda, Keepers of the Kalachakra is a journey that will have you gasping for breath—but one that you cannot abandon till all the pieces of the jigsaw come together. Till you go up, gobsmack against an end you did not see coming.”
Keepers of Kalachakra combines ancient Vajrayana Buddhist philosophies with teachings of Quantum physics to present a layered story set in a Modern world rife with polarised religious views. The book is such a wealth of information that it leaves the reader astonished at the threads that Sanghi pulls throughout. Like the plus one bead of the 108 rudrakshas, the insights across the pages shine bright layers of thought upon us. Sharma’s conversations with Russian Mikhailov and Brahmananda are explorative and propose incredible perspectives.
“Is consciousness simply a product of the brain or is the brain just a recipient of consciousness?”
Yet sometimes, this light shines far too bright for the reader’s comfort. One tends to forget that this is a historical thriller novel built around the mysterious premise of why liberal world leaders are dying without provocation or any visible attack. We do not care about Vijay Sundaram, Sujatha, The IG4 or even the radicalised conservatives. We do not feel the thrill, twinge of danger in the pursuits of the lead, nor any adrenaline rush in any face-offs. The extra-large dosage of intellect between the storyline makes sure of this.
Meanwhile, character development, storyline and pace go for a toss. He relates to every character by narrating their past and how they traversed their life to reach their current junction. But a mere narration of events doesn’t entice the reader to develop empathy or form a bond. And as you near the end, you feel extremely overwhelmed and eager to finish off the pages. (And that’s when I remembered why I never picked another Sanghi after reading the Rozabel Line!)
Like the Backpage premise, the book is quite an unwarranted lecture that tries to connect too many different threads into a straight string of thoughts! I shall only recommend this for lovers of Buddhist philosophy and those interested in ancient Indian teachings and quantum physics. If you pick this novel thinking it is like a Dan Brown type of historical thriller, it might be a letdown!
