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Friday, August 9, 2019

Book Review: The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan

Book Review

The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan

Book Review: The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan | Dhiraj Sindhi
The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan

Author: Harini Srinivasan

ISBN: 978-8193642498

Genre: Historical Fiction (Mystery)

Length: 280 Pages

Publisher: TreeShade Books (28 April 2019)

My Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/2KzF00u

About the author:


An aficionado of literature, history and dance, Harini Srinivasan has found innovative ways of bringing her passions to her work. Among her achievements is her contribution as an editor of several prestigious publications published by the Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, such as Selected Speeches of the President: Pranab Mukherjee; The Republican Ethic: Selected Speeches of Shri Ram Nath Kovind; Indian Dance – Through a Critic’s Eye; Abode Under the Dome; Legends of Indian Silver Screen; and Selected Speeches of the Vice President: M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Book Review: The Curse of Anuganga by Harini Srinivasan | Dhiraj Sindhi
Harini Srinivasan

She also has to her credit a children’s book “The Wizard Tales - Adventures of Bun-Bun” (now into its second print) and a blog on classic Hindi films and books. Along the way, she undertook different roles (Civil Servant, Project Manager, Communications Professional and Editor) across countries (India, Germany and the Netherlands). A doting mother of a 10 year old son, Harini Srinivasan lives with her family in Gurgaon.

Check her blog: www.bagsbooksandmore.wordpress.com
Follow her on Instagram: @hsriniv12
Twitter Handle: @HSriniv12
Visit her Website: http://harinisrinivasan.com/


REVIEW

Narration

The Curse of Anuganga is a Historical Fiction based on the history of Vakataka dynasty capital, which is Nandivardhana. Driving the inspiration from the history of ancient India, the author Harini Srinivasan has tried to put her views and story which could have caused the mysterious events that took place at the end of the 4th century. The story is narrated in the third-person point of view which follows the main character Shaunaka. The author has tried her best to portray Ancient India with the wealth of rich culture of architecture, developed imperial government, language and literature. She has used many Sanskrit words throughout the book quite often which affected the efficiency of writing style. The writing style and the structure is very good and the story is consistent and average paced throughout the book.

Location and Setting

The story takes place in 403 CE when the Rani Prabhavatigupta (390 CE – 410 CE) was the regent Queen, ruling over the kingdom Nandivardhana on behalf of her two young sons. Harini Srinivasan has successfully portrayed the image of this kingdom and how it worked, it is just perfect and is a remarkable point about The Curse of Anuganga. There are different quarters in the kingdom of Nandivardhana and the story mainly revolves around Buddhist Quarter, Administrative Quarter, Jewellers’ Quarter and the market of the city. The book also described the infrastructure of various constructions which added value to the magnificent period of Indian history.

Theme

The Curse of Anuganga follows a murder mystery and the constant threat to the kingdom from an unknown source throughout the course. The main character Shaunaka is the son of a well-known goldsmith, Vishnuveera. The prologue and the opening took me by surprise and my expectation got higher, but nothing sort of happened until towards the end. After studying the theories about Kalidasa, author went along with the theory that associates Kalidasa to the court of King Chandragupta II. So, there is this great element to read about, which is Mahakavi and his invaluable creations and accomplishments.

Plot

Shaunaka is given the charge to work on the bride’s jewellry at the corner house in Buddhist Quarters. Unfortunate Shaunaka and his brother Ashwini find themselves in front of the Vinayashura’s dead body. Vinayashura, the owner of that corner house who was rumored to have deep connections with the royal family, was mysterious enough to Shaunaka and now after the murder, he is intrigued to know more about the mystery at hand. Because of their logic and keen observation skills, Shaunaka and Ashwini have land duty of assisting the head of police to solve this murder. Also another event, the royal wedding of the prince is facing the obstacles and both mysteries are causing a threat to the security of Nandivardhana.



My Views

The use of Sanskrit might have compromised the capacity of the narration but it was very essential to the story and it was fun to learn bits of Sanskrit this way. I loved many characters and the list includes Devi Tanirika (wife of Vinayashura and mother of bride─ Tarika), Pitamahi Ahalyabai (Grandmother of Shaunaka and Ashwini), Bharavi and Yakshvatsa. I expected more from the character of Mahakavi Kalidasa. The story was not much intriguing as it was just moving straight forward without any major events in between. Thus, the climax was burdened with all the mysteries. While the language, setting and the representation of mysterious events in the ancient history of India were expertly carried out.


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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

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