The Krishna Key By Aswin Sanghi- Review

Till now I thought that the themes and action sequences of many Indian films are inspired from Hollywood. Now this vogue has been transformed to literature even with the advent of The Krishna Key the latest in the genre started by Dan Brown and which has now become a rage. The story  was started like Robin Cook novel but ended like a damp squib. It is quite similar to the  Historical Puzzle based thrillers that were first presented by Dan Brown. What is disturbing, however, that while the story is quite different in some ways, there are clear cases where the story has been obviously inspired by the iconic Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit in the chunks and cannot be expected from an author of “The Chanakya’s chant.

It’s an OK kind of book. Well it is not entirely a copy of “ The Da Vinci Code” I personally believe that Indian mythology is far more interesting and far more mysterious than western mythology. I  also loved the Shiva trilogy books....I feel good for both the authors to be able to present Indian mythology in this form to the world....it’s a terrific effort though.

THE CHARACTERS

1. Ravi Mohan Saini: Geeky, smart, intelligent and quick-witted professor of history
2. Priya: 40, clever, phd student plus.... 
3. Radhika Singh: Tom Boyish but honest police officer
4. Sunil Garg: Head of the CBI... 
5. Taarak Vakil: Serial Killer

THE PLOT

Raja Man Singh left 4 seals kept in a base plate, which together point to a secret that will point the way to Lord Krishna's best - kept secret. That is the simple premise of the book. The book is simply based on deciphering the various clues to figure out where the object pointed to by the Key is located. One researcher - Prof Varshney - who knows the secret is murdered; but he has taken precautions by sending 4 of his friends 4 parts of the key. First the Professor and then one by one, the friends start getting murdered

Professor Saini is one of the friends chosen for a key-part; he is suspected of having murdered Prof Varshney; from here starts his headlong rush to save himself both from the police as well as from the real murderer - all the while trying to peice together the near-indecipherable puzzle that has been left by Prof Varshney. He has only his doctoral student Priya and her criminal lawyer father for help... and his wits. He must find the 4 seals that form the key, the base-plate that holds the keys and decipher the reality of the Krishna Key. 

THE ANALYSIS

A professor, a female helper, a centuries - old puzzle to be solved, both the police and the crooks hunting the poor souls, a religion - based secret... it is the Da Vinci code all over again. At least at first sight. Even at second sight, the impression of Da Vinci Code cannot be forgotten. The similarities are far too many... let us say that this novel has been inspired by The Da Vinci Code. There are enough twists in the tale that keep it from becoming predictable, there are enough changes in the story that take it away from Da Vinci Code. Further, the base story, while being similar in some instances, has a different flow to it, is different in its nature as well as its thesis. There is no religion-challenging here: all is as it should be. It is slower than the Da Vinci Code, more contrived. 

The Am bigrams used are too obvious that they are created  just to fit in the character’s name but not derived out of history like in Angels and Demons. I was not able to understand the main motto behind the killings as the assassin always have a  option of accomplishing his task without bloodshed.

Sir Khan’s biography is clearly Haji Mastaan’s life story.

Most importantly, it deals with a subject that we have heard about since we were born (at least the Hindu  Audience); so the interest is kindled automatically. The story does not move at a break-neck speed - but rather at a leisurely pace. The character development could have been better... the characters could have been more robust; there are instances where the stated behaviour jars. Luckily, this is only towards the end of the novel - and only in a few places.

The Mahabharata story was very jarring and was written shoddily and very summarily. The characters were amateurish and one dimensional. The writing was terrible and the plot twists did not shock me. Yes, I did keep reading and that I suppose is the only merit of the book. The story of the Mahabharata has been interspersed - in the signature style of Ashwin Sanghi - which has a twin effect: it breaks the flow of the story, refocuses your mind as well as  builds your impatience as you wonder how the story progresses. This enables a sort-of refresher of the old story, which is quite entertaining and interesting. However, in this novel, the flow of the story could decidedly have been much better handled - unlike in Chanakya's Chant. 

The book is all in all a quick read, is interesting and is well presented. The writing style is lucid and free from any pejoratives or curse-words, thankfully. I cannot say any more- positive or negative-  as it will reveal too much about the story. It is a good read for a journey, or on a leisurely afternoon. 

It is a nice book... I believe I said as much in the review. But I don’t regard it as his best, either at least like his first book “The Rozabal Line”!  Can it be re-read? Yes, it can. Worth a buy...