Return of the Brahmin book review: A political thriller in Ashokan times
The Buddhist Emperor’s wily spymaster returns with his fierce loyalties to his sovereign to untangle the mayhem that has descended
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Kalinga has fallen, Ashoka has converted to Buddhism but his life is far from serene. Image used for representational purposes.
Express News Service
History has gaps in it that allow a fiction writer’s imagination to flow through. However, recreating a credible story world set in the distant past is a challenge for even the most seasoned writers. Ravi Shankar Etteth’s earlier novel, The Brahmin, proved that he is up to the task. It took us to King Ashoka’s realm, Magadha, on the eve of war against Kalinga a seemingly calm period rife with underlying tensions, assassination plots and what-not. In short, it set the stage for Ashoka’s wily spymaster, and the novel’s eponymous hero, to play a masterly game. In Return of the Brahmin, t
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In such circumstances, Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India, becomes required reading. Cogent, comprehensive, courageous and all the more moving for that it reveals how the Indian Muslims, like blacks in the US, have become victims of structural discrimination. The author, Ghazala Wahab, an expert on homeland security, is a well-regarded journalist and executive editor of FORCE magazine. She traces the historical roots of Islam from seventh century Arabia and its arrival in the subcontinent, through multiple pathways that also influenced its evolution.
Internal divisions within the faith are explored. These and other disruptions have left the 200 million Indian Muslims caught in a bind between the ‘socio-political discrimination that they face at the hands of both lawmaking and law-enforcing authorities, which often manifests as physical and mental violence’ and ‘the vicious cycle perpetuated by illiteracy, poverty and the disproportionate influence o
Bangalore Literature Festival wears a mask
Bangalore Literature Festival this year is both online and offline, giving you the choice to be or not to be there. December 12, 2020 / 07:23 AM IST
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