Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Book Review: Chanakya by Ashok K. Banker






Name Of The Book
Name Of The Author
Publisher
No. Of Pages
154
Genre
Historical Fiction
Price
INR 225 (On Amazon)

'It's one thing to stand out in a certain situation where he has to use his intellect for some purpose, and quite another thing to simply show off just to get his own way.'

'If he can't use his great intelligence to get what he wants from life, then what good is it being so intelligent?'

From this book.

I remember, many years ago, it was a day when I had nothing to read so I picked a non fiction based on Chanakya, even though I'm not fond of non-fiction. Unexpectedly, I liked it. So, I was sure if I liked Chanakya's thoughts, a historical fiction based on Chanakya would be interesting.

Vishnu Gupta is a seven years old, extra-ordinarily intelligent boy who lives in a small village, Chanak. He knows all the scriptures {Knows more than his Gurus}, remembers all the shlokas. His only friend in the village is Vaishali. 

One fine day, Vishu Gupta and his family visit Patliputra as his father, a great pundit, has been invited to attend a big conference for Brahmins, unaware that this visit is going to change their lives.

This is the first book in the Itihasa series, so it is basically about Vishnu Gupta, the little Chanakya. It's about his journey --- from Chanak village to Patliputra to Magadh Rajmahal. How he and his extra-ordinary knowledge and wisdom impress, rather surprise everyone; and how he meets 'Chandra'. How he realizes that Magadh is a corrupt/unjust state and decides to fight for justice, understanding that beating Rakshasa, the Prime Minister of Magadh samrajya wouldn't be easy.

'Every force of dharma had an equal opposite force of adharma.'

'To support oppression and tyranny is to enable it.'

The writing is neat and simple. There are so many thought-provoking one liners. Full of wisdom that doesn't sound preachy. The characters are nicely sketched. I especially liked Visnhu's friendship with Vaishali. Their conversations are endearing.

It's a very short read, and the end seemed abrupt. However, it was a nice read and I'm definitely going read the second part to know about the grown-up Vishnu Gupta aka Chanakya. Pick it if you like Historical fiction. 


I received this book from the publisher for an unbiased review.



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