The Krishna Key

Long over due...

A writer improves with every single string of words. The transition can be seen in such clarity with Ashwin Sanghi. I was mistaken in wondering why I liked Chanikya's Chant while I found The Rozabal Line terrible. It's important to note the sequence as well. The writing style of The Krishna Key is distinctly better than Chanikya's Chant which is leaps and bounds ahead of The Rozabal Line. All three of them have captivating plots.

The Krishna Key brings to fore the interesting possibilities intertwined in our mythology. Over centuries and millennia our legends have transformed many times over, history written and rewritten. Ashwin Sanghi used that to his advantage and takes the reader on a page turning treasure hunt that spans over all the stories our grandmother told us and all the stories we read in history textbooks, and even some of the fiction reading after school. Influenced by The Da Vinci Code, adding to The Shiva Trilogy, The Krishna Key helps in creating a genre that inspires young Indians to delve into Indian mythology which is a treasure trove of stories. 

There is always room for improvement. Apart from the story leaning heavily on other works, the story line seems a bit cracked, the transition from one scene to another or justifying the existence of of some of the characters needs to flow in smoother. The use of anagrams was slightly out of place since it is not really an Indian concept to play with English letters. And some phrases can be a put off like the fact that more or less all female characters have a good figure, instead of being athletic, slim and attractive. 

But then again, not just writers, editors are equally important. Fiction in Indian English purely originated India is still upcoming and the publishing industry has only recently lowered its barriers to entry. There is still a long way to go but the industry shows great promise and learns quickly, like Ashwin Sanghi's writing.