Riveting, insular tale of an infinite karmic' chain

Chennai: As the title of this book, 'The Indus Challenge' prima facie suggests, it is as much historical fiction, underwritten by Hindu mythology and a surreal history in the making, with the underlying message being that the agenda of 'Akhand Bharat' is a project that has to fought for by 'heroes' in every 'yuga'. It seems politics and history cannot be more smartly combined, more so in a charged global milieu of religious polarization today.

So if you believe in aeons of the great 'Karmic chain', an extremely long period of time that unfolds in this land called 'Bharat', then the entire sequence of the Ultimate Being - the One primordial reality- becoming 'many' through infinite episodes of births and deaths, seems to find a historic utterances through the creation of a unified Hindu state as it were, and resting its might on the secret of one ultimate weapon - the 'Brahmastra', whose secret codes on a 'Mudra' are imparted to a select few in each historical epoch.

The author, Dr R Durgadoss, “an entrepreneur, inspirational speaker and writer who holds a PhD in corporate finance”, with his avowed passion for history, mythology and philosophy, has chosen to put his fine brush on a huge canvas starting from how Shiva, a “young celebrated NASA scientist” who with his team members successfully saves planet earth from a devastating “cyber attack” by “cyber terrorists”, yet becomes an unwitting victim of a physical terrorist attack “on that fateful day of 26th November 2008”, when he was being felicitated for his extraordinary scientific performance at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, by terrorists (from Pakistan) who sneaked in by the sea route. Shiva lies in a comatose state, and then his memory unravels the past of India.

Shiva's memory first flashes images from the period of the Mahabahrata 3000 BCE, to tell us how the 'hero' Sagar, a 'shudra' by birth given the “status of a strategic warrior by his leader Abhimanyu”, takes a new 'karmic avatar' in 330 BCE, as Rudra, a young commander of the 'Mauryan Nava Yuva Sena' and a lifelong confidante of the great Mauryan king, Chandragupta. Guided by the unenviable Chanakya, it falls upon Rudra's lot to first discover through a long journey from the Himalayas to Rameswaram, and then be able to preserve the secret of the 'Brahmastra' of the 'Mahabarata', from being passed on to the Greeks when the 'mighty' Alexander's successors make forays into our land.
 
And after Rudra dies to the “treachery of the enemy”, the author promises the continuation of this “historical, mythological adventure” in a forthcoming sequel when Rudra would be reborn in his next 'Karmic' journey as commander for the great Chola King Rajendra Chola in the land of the Tamils down South. The unstated, but reasonably inferential implication being that 'Akhand Bharat' is still in the making even in the new millennium, until the military and cultural “challenges” by outsiders to the land beyond the Indus that is 'Bharat' is overcome.

It certainly makes for an absorbing reading, emblazoned by the author's racy, transparent and crafty prose, as long as its premises are not critically re-visited or questioned. In the process Dr Durgadoss also brings home legends that have informed the length and breath of this country, from the significance of the Adi Jagannathar temple in Tirupullani for childless couples in remote coastal Ramanathapuram district, other places in its vicinity associated with the great epic Ramayana including 'Ramsethu', the bridge that Lord Rama's monkey warriors built to go to Sri Lanka, to how the dance of Lord Nataraja in Chidambaram remains 'centre' of the universe.
 
BOOKS RECEIVED: THREE WORKS OF FICTION BY SHYAM SUNDAR BULUSU:
Three other works of fiction received this week, all published by the Chennai-based 'Notion Press', seems to hold the promise of living up to the genre of racy, investigative narratives. All the three books have been authored by Chennai-born Shyam Sundar Bulusu, who studied M.Sc. (Tech) from Andhra University, and he is also a prolific writer of short stories and poetry.
The author has dedicated all the three works to his late wife and “invaluable inspiration” in his life, Swarnalatha.

Bulusu's 'Embers of the Pyre' revolves around Mandakini, a freelance photojournalist who is relentlessly in pursuit of the Truth after she seeks the help of a 'Tantric' to set her house in order, while his second work, 'The Kidnap' is an “action-packed investigative thriller.”

Bulusu's recently published third novel, 'Misogynist Interrupted' is a chilling crime fiction set in the city of Chennai. The author's long stint with the Central Ground Water Board has taken him all over India, which has invested in him a wider perspective of men and matters, an experiential dimension that is extremely valuable for a writer in Indian English.