The Armour of God-
By Ram Mishra- Book Review
I was part of a generation that grew up in the 80’s thinking
that it was fashionable to have Hanuman’s mace and Ram’s quiver, more than
G.I.Joe toys. In a country that knew nothing else than Doordarshan’s solitary
TV Channel, one had little options than to watch Ramayan and Mahabharat.
Naturally, I entered the 90’s armed with mythology trivia, also complemented by
Amar Chitra Katha’s series of books on Indian Gods. All of that evaporated with
STAR Television entering India in the early 90’s. The mythology I knew seemed
all the more silly as I grew up,
starting with statements like “King Dasharatha lived for a thousand years”. I
was becoming a drop out on the subject of mythology, before I read Ram’s bookon “The Armor of God’. The book has helped me look at mythology with a little
more respect, since it has kindled my curiosity levels to seek for the hidden
gems that’s were not told as part of our history text books.
The book is a good read, where characters from the past, and
the present are mixed, in a fantasy tale, that aims to through light theories
or viewpoints not known before. The book
starts well with the fantasy tale, setting the tone for the further chapters,
before an interesting theory of the Aryan Invasion is discussed. This is the
point where I wondered where the blurring line between mythology and the
ignored Indian history could have been. It is at this point within the first 30
pages, that lets you feel at ease, that the book is probably going to unravel
more such stories.
Whether it’s the part where the body aches after time
travel, or the powers of the Saligrama
stone, the book enthralls you by opening up your mind, to think about the experience.
The narrative of this cross era fantasy,
never for once, lets your mind think that all of this could be made up, thereby
making the reader put faith in the narrative, to read further to explore
mysteries that were probably not told. While it does draw into the otherwise western
notion, that India is a land of many mystics, the story remains relevant to the
reader.
To briefly talk about the story, its about how the normal
lives of 2 beings on planet Earth, suddenly changes when they realize that they
are incarnations of 2 popular characters from the Mahabharata, one of whom is
Karna. The story does well to move back and forth between the present and the
connection to the ages of the Mahabharata, and keeps the reader gripped on.
In short, the book is a great investment in understanding
our culture, through the spirit of enquiry, and sets your mind thinking on what
the history of India was, and what was the history we were actually given in
our text books. That delta is exactly your gain from reading the book.
Do get your copy, by buying the book here on Flipkart.
Do get your copy, by buying the book here on Flipkart.
