Blast from the past

Blast from the past

Five thousand years ago, the earth was visited by a divine being called Krishna who brought to the planet virtues and values. While humanity feared losing hope if the blue God was ever to die, they were reassured that he would return in a new avatar when needed in the dark ages — Kaliyug. In the modern era, a young boy grows up to believe that he is the final avatar. However, in a weird twist of fate, he turns out to be a serial killer. In this heart-stopping tale, the arrival of a murderer who executes his gruesome and well thought-out schemes in the name of God is the first clue to a sinister conspiracy to expose an ancient secret -- Krishna’s priceless legacy to mankind. Ashwin Sanghi, the author of The Rozabal Line and Chanakya’s Chant, brings you yet another nail-biting suspense thriller in the form of The Krishna Key.

“After writing my second novel Chanakya’s Chant, I was looking for a story that I could sink my teeth into. At a friend’s house, someone mentioned to me the fact that the prophesised appearance of the tenth avatar of Vishnu-Kalki was very similar to the apocalyptic prophecies of the Book of Revelation in the Bible. That got my brain into overdrive. I spent an entire week reading the Kalki Purana and there was no looking back. I have always been fascinated by the Mahabharata period. What excites me is not the mythology but the possibility that the epic may be based on historical truths,” said Sanghi who further added that The Krishna Key is his quest to provide an entertaining read while attempting to nudge the Mahabharata and the character of Krishna from the mythology section of the library into the history section.

The author believes that fiction gives him the freedom and space to delve into issues that would be difficult to explore in the world of non-fiction. Furthermore, there is no better way to bring a topic into the realm of popular discussion than to write a commercial potboiler on it. Though, Theology has played an important role in two of his novels, Chanakya’s Chant had no theological element in it. “In fact, I would say history is the common element across my books, not Theology or mythology,” said Sanghi.

According to Sanghi, Indian literature is going through a period of renaissance now. Till a decade ago, there were very few Indian authors who wrote commercial fiction. “Truth be told, it was expected that Indians should focus on writing award-winning literary fiction. The result was that many of us had to turn to Western authors for our fix of chills and thrills. I grew up reading Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Irving Wallace, Ayn Rand, Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth and countless other Western writers. There wasn’t a single Indian author that could offer me a story that was comparable to what they wrote. Today, however, the scene has changed. Publishers are actively looking for authors who have fresh stories and ideas and that’s great news. Give it another decade and you will see Indian versions of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Nancy Drew,” said Sanghi.

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The New Indian Express
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