When I like two books by an author, I try to read all his works. Having read Ashwin Sanghi’s Krishna Key and Rozabal Line, and liking it, I was sure to buy the Sialkot Saga. I did buy it and finished reading it last week. Ashwin Sanghi is a celebrity author now and his book creates a lot of buzz even before its release. That was true with his latest book too. So does Sialkot Saga meet the expectations of a Sanghi book?
Plot
Sialkot Saga has mainly two plots. One involving Arvind and Arbazz and the other one is half mythical and half historical. First about Arvind and Arbazz. They are both businessmen who want to become richer than what they are now (like all other businessmen). While Arbazz is a Muslim from Bombay, Arvind is a Hindu from Culcutta. Arbazz’s father was a poor daily wage labourer. He always stood straight and lived with whatever he earned. But Arbazz was not like his father. For him it was the end that mattered and not the means.
Arvind’s father was a Marwari businessman. So business was in Arvind’s blood from childhood itself. Compared to Arbazz, things were a lot easier for Arvind. He had good schooling, nice house, car and above all a businessman as his father. The major part of the book is about them. They break all the rules in the book on their way to reach the top. Money is the only factor that guides them.
The second plot involves Emperor Ashoka’s research team finding out a secret that could change the world. The secret is passed through generations through the chosen one. Arvind’s and Arbazz ‘s last fight is to get hold of the secret.
As I said earlier The Sialkot Saga has two plots- business plot and the mythical plot. The major short coming of Sialkot Saga is that these two plots are not blended well. Both of them exist separately until they are tied together in the epilogue. The first five parts of the book involve the business plot and the last two parts, the mythical plot. After the fifth part the story completely deviates from the initial plot. The book would have been better if it involved only one of the plots (preferably the mythical plot).
And then there are too many puns strewn here and there throughout the story. Some of them are good but most of them felt like being forced into the dialogues of the characters. If you see the book cover, trailer and all the main characters’ religion is highlighted. Their religion hasn’t got much role to play. But Hindu vs. Muslim tag in the trailer and book cover may have helped in marketing. For those of you who don’t know about shares and the share market most of the business transactions are just boring time pass. That was another major problem with me.
The only chapter I loved in the book was the epilogue. The epilogue ties together all the loose threads brilliantly, even though in a hurry, and brings the book to an end. Epilogue also creates an interest in the readers for Indian myth. (That’s what I expect from a Ashwin Sanghi book.) Epilogue saves the book from a complete crash landing and smoothens the fall somewhat.
My rating for The Sialkot Saga by Ashwin Sanghi is 2/5.
Share your views of The Sialkot Saga and my review in the comments section below.
Review
The Sialkot Saga is divided into seven parts or seven books. Each book tells the story of a decade. It begins with Book 1 telling the stories from 1950-1960 and ends in Book 7 in 2010. Different incidents that happened in the history from 1947 to 2010 become a (small) part of the tale. This includes the partition, Emergency, Sikh riots, 9/11, 2002 riots, 26/11 etc. And many political figures like Indira Gandhi, P. V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee are also used factiously. So Sialkot Saga also provides a brief political history of India. All that is good and enjoyable.As I said earlier The Sialkot Saga has two plots- business plot and the mythical plot. The major short coming of Sialkot Saga is that these two plots are not blended well. Both of them exist separately until they are tied together in the epilogue. The first five parts of the book involve the business plot and the last two parts, the mythical plot. After the fifth part the story completely deviates from the initial plot. The book would have been better if it involved only one of the plots (preferably the mythical plot).
And then there are too many puns strewn here and there throughout the story. Some of them are good but most of them felt like being forced into the dialogues of the characters. If you see the book cover, trailer and all the main characters’ religion is highlighted. Their religion hasn’t got much role to play. But Hindu vs. Muslim tag in the trailer and book cover may have helped in marketing. For those of you who don’t know about shares and the share market most of the business transactions are just boring time pass. That was another major problem with me.
The only chapter I loved in the book was the epilogue. The epilogue ties together all the loose threads brilliantly, even though in a hurry, and brings the book to an end. Epilogue also creates an interest in the readers for Indian myth. (That’s what I expect from a Ashwin Sanghi book.) Epilogue saves the book from a complete crash landing and smoothens the fall somewhat.
Conclusion
The Sialkot Saga is not a business thriller as it claims. There is business, but it doesn’t thrill. By a thriller I mean a fast paced, adrenalin pumping book. The Sialkot Saga is no such book. Its just an average book meant only for Sanghi fans. My favourite Ashwin Sanghi book still remains the Krishna Key. That book introduced me to Ashwin Sanghi. Hope he writes another book like The Krishna Key- a mythological thriller that actually thrills.My rating for The Sialkot Saga by Ashwin Sanghi is 2/5.
Share your views of The Sialkot Saga and my review in the comments section below.
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