Dr. Sayantan Gupta is a medical
professional based at Malda, West Bengal. His facile pen has created yet
another literary eloquence to exhibit his diverse capabilities and creativity
in the form of this book “Abode Of kings “. His earlier works on poetry and
novel have different themes than the present one which is based on ancient
history and rich civilization of what is now called India. His characters of
the novel are familiar to those, in their above fifties, irrespective of
whether they were students of ancient History or not. The initial chapters, out
of total three parts of the book links reader’s memory back to famous Hindi
novel of yesteryears called “Vaishali
Ki Nagarvadhu” by the eminent author, Acharya Chatursen Shastri. At the same
time what binds the attention of young, tech savvy readers is the racy,
encapsulating narration to build up a long saga involving few generations.
It is to the credit of the writer to
develop his storyline without any factual discrepancies with regards to the
historic names, ancient places and about the social fabric prevalent in the
periods of 500 B.C.
The better part of historic settings
is that the general plot is somewhat known and ingenuity in such works,
improves the acceptability in the minds of the readers. Amrapaali, Bimbisara,
Abhaya, Jivaka, Ajaatshatru, all fit in the large landscape and thus story
climaxes to exclaim “Abode of Kings”.
Amongst the central characters, it is
Amrapali, the Cleopatra of her time, stands tall amongst others. She symbolises societal ingraciousness,
impure thoughts and basic human instinct of conquer or subjugate, yet it was
her character strength with which she bargains for peace for her fellow
countrymen, her motherland from the neighbourhood king in disguise, who,
enamoured by her charm, was seeking her companionship. Besides central
characters, there are others who have also got equal treatment by depiction of
their strong ethics, commitment and devotion. Jivaka is one such character who
renounces the throne to become a medical
practitioner to serve the humanity. Here the author, successfully draws
parallels with his own profession and builds the character of Jivaka,
assiduously, to establish “service before self.”
The twirls and twists in the tale is
in descending order, each time from fairly positive or complimentary to
negative to hostile. It helps maintaining the curiosity of the reader, and at
the same time central characters of the story evoke emotions, hold on to their
strength and succumb to their weaknesses. This is where the author’s
imagination spreads like sunshine through the trees and he seems to lose fear
of being wrong.
History, follows geography and there
is vivid description of travel through pious rivers like Ganga and Yamuna and
great cities like Pataligram, later called Pataliputra, Kashi and so on in
quest for knowledge and learning. Here,
the well-researched description of places and people, gives good overview of
geography. The city of Rajgir, was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha,
a state that would eventually evolve into Mauryan Empire. It was called “Rajgriha”,
meaning “the Home of Royalty”.
Part two of the book can be loosely
found to be related with state craft where ‘Mridanga to Madira’, ‘Veena to
Venom’ and crowns, insatiable appetite of rulers for expansion of their kingdom
have been well handled by the author, albeit falls short of significant
strategic insight.
The concluding part of the book
revolves around “Buddham Sharanam Gachchami.” Here again, the author has been
successful in his adaptation of sensitivity of human emotions and brilliantly
portrays his central characters in their different avatars. Amrapali valiantly
reasons out her new role to be adopted, before ‘Tathagat’ or Buddha and his
affirmation showcases the all-encompassing traits of her would be master. Such
is the strength of her character and she has been portrayed with deserving
intensity.
I compliment the author for his foray
into a new turf, against a historic landscape and I may say, he does not disappoint.
“Abode of Kings” propounds the Indian philosophy of renouncement towards the
end. In any case, storyline against historical background may not necessarily
have calamitous or happy ending as a matter of rule.
Dr.
Kiran Singh
New Fiction based on Kingdom of Taxela and Magadh. Story of war & Peace
by Dr Sayantan Gupta
राजगृह
FOREWORDDr. Sayantan Gupta is a medical professional based at Malda, West Bengal. His facile pen has created yet another literary eloquence to exhibit his diverse capabilities and creativity in the form of this book “Abode Of kings “. His earlier works on poetry and novel have different themes than the present one which is based on ancient history and rich civilization of what is now called India. His characters of the novel are familiar to those, in their above fifties, irrespective of whether they were students of ancient History or not. The initial chapters, out of total three parts of the book links reader’s memory back to famous Hindi novel of yesteryears called “Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu” by the eminent author, Acharya Chatursen Shastri. At the same time what binds the attention of young, tech savvy readers is the racy, encapsulating narration to build up a long saga involving few generations.It is to the credit of the writer to develop his storyline without any factual discrepancies with regards to the historic names, ancient places and about the social fabric prevalent in the periods of 500 B.C.The better part of historic settings is that the general plot is somewhat known and ingenuity in such works, improves the acceptability in the minds of the readers. Amrapaali, Bimbisara, Abhaya, Jivaka, Ajaatshatru, all fit in the large landscape and thus story climaxes to exclaim “Abode of Kings”.Amongst the central characters, it is Amrapali, the Cleopatra of her time, stands tall amongst others. She symbolises societal ingraciousness, impure thoughts and basic human instinct of conquer or subjugate, yet it was her character strength with which she bargains for peace for her fellow countrymen, her motherland from the neighbourhood king in disguise, who, enamoured by her charm, was seeking her companionship. Besides central characters, there are others who have also got equal treatment by depiction of their strong ethics, commitment and devotion. Jivaka is one such character who renounces the throne to become a medical practitioner to serve the humanity. Here the author, successfully draws parallels with his own profession and builds the character of Jivaka, assiduously, to establish “service before self.”The twirls and twists in the tale is in descending order, each time from fairly positive or complimentary to negative to hostile. It helps maintaining the curiosity of the reader, and at the same time central characters of the story evoke emotions, hold on to their strength and succumb to their weaknesses. This is where the author’s imagination spreads like sunshine through the trees and he seems to lose fear of being wrong.History, follows geography and there is vivid description of travel through pious rivers like Ganga and Yamuna and great cities like Pataligram, later called Pataliputra, Kashi and so on in quest for knowledge and learning. Here, the well-researched description of places and people, gives good overview of geography. The city of Rajgir, was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into Mauryan Empire. It was called “Rajgriha”, meaning “the Home of Royalty”.Part two of the book can be loosely found to be related with state craft where ‘Mridanga to Madira’, ‘Veena to Venom’ and crowns, insatiable appetite of rulers for expansion of their kingdom have been well handled by the author, albeit falls short of significant strategic insight.The concluding part of the book revolves around “Buddham Sharanam Gachchami.” Here again, the author has been successful in his adaptation of sensitivity of human emotions and brilliantly portrays his central characters in their different avatars. Amrapali valiantly reasons out her new role to be adopted, before ‘Tathagat’ or Buddha and his affirmation showcases the all-encompassing traits of her would be master. Such is the strength of her character and she has been portrayed with deserving intensity.I compliment the author for his foray into a new turf, against a historic landscape and I may say, he does not disappoint. “Abode of Kings” propounds the Indian philosophy of renouncement towards the end. In any case, storyline against historical background may not necessarily have calamitous or happy ending as a matter of rule.Dr. Kiran SinghDr Gupta
FOREWORDDr. Sayantan Gupta is a medical professional based at Malda, West Bengal. His facile pen has created yet another literary eloquence to exhibit his diverse capabilities and creativity in the form of this book “Abode Of kings “. His earlier works on poetry and novel have different themes than the present one which is based on ancient history and rich civilization of what is now called India. His characters of the novel are familiar to those, in their above fifties, irrespective of whether they were students of ancient History or not. The initial chapters, out of total three parts of the book links reader’s memory back to famous Hindi novel of yesteryears called “Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu” by the eminent author, Acharya Chatursen Shastri. At the same time what binds the attention of young, tech savvy readers is the racy, encapsulating narration to build up a long saga involving few generations.It is to the credit of the writer to develop his storyline without any factual discrepancies with regards to the historic names, ancient places and about the social fabric prevalent in the periods of 500 B.C.The better part of historic settings is that the general plot is somewhat known and ingenuity in such works, improves the acceptability in the minds of the readers. Amrapaali, Bimbisara, Abhaya, Jivaka, Ajaatshatru, all fit in the large landscape and thus story climaxes to exclaim “Abode of Kings”.Amongst the central characters, it is Amrapali, the Cleopatra of her time, stands tall amongst others. She symbolises societal ingraciousness, impure thoughts and basic human instinct of conquer or subjugate, yet it was her character strength with which she bargains for peace for her fellow countrymen, her motherland from the neighbourhood king in disguise, who, enamoured by her charm, was seeking her companionship. Besides central characters, there are others who have also got equal treatment by depiction of their strong ethics, commitment and devotion. Jivaka is one such character who renounces the throne to become a medical practitioner to serve the humanity. Here the author, successfully draws parallels with his own profession and builds the character of Jivaka, assiduously, to establish “service before self.”The twirls and twists in the tale is in descending order, each time from fairly positive or complimentary to negative to hostile. It helps maintaining the curiosity of the reader, and at the same time central characters of the story evoke emotions, hold on to their strength and succumb to their weaknesses. This is where the author’s imagination spreads like sunshine through the trees and he seems to lose fear of being wrong.History, follows geography and there is vivid description of travel through pious rivers like Ganga and Yamuna and great cities like Pataligram, later called Pataliputra, Kashi and so on in quest for knowledge and learning. Here, the well-researched description of places and people, gives good overview of geography. The city of Rajgir, was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into Mauryan Empire. It was called “Rajgriha”, meaning “the Home of Royalty”.Part two of the book can be loosely found to be related with state craft where ‘Mridanga to Madira’, ‘Veena to Venom’ and crowns, insatiable appetite of rulers for expansion of their kingdom have been well handled by the author, albeit falls short of significant strategic insight.The concluding part of the book revolves around “Buddham Sharanam Gachchami.” Here again, the author has been successful in his adaptation of sensitivity of human emotions and brilliantly portrays his central characters in their different avatars. Amrapali valiantly reasons out her new role to be adopted, before ‘Tathagat’ or Buddha and his affirmation showcases the all-encompassing traits of her would be master. Such is the strength of her character and she has been portrayed with deserving intensity.I compliment the author for his foray into a new turf, against a historic landscape and I may say, he does not disappoint. “Abode of Kings” propounds the Indian philosophy of renouncement towards the end. In any case, storyline against historical background may not necessarily have calamitous or happy ending as a matter of rule.Dr. Kiran SinghDr. Sayantan Gupta is a medical professional based at Malda, West Bengal. His facile pen has created yet another literary eloquence to exhibit his diverse capabilities and creativity in the form of this book “Abode Of kings “. His earlier works on poetry and novel have different themes than the present one which is based on ancient history and rich civilization of what is now called India. His characters of the novel are familiar to those, in their above fifties, irrespective of whether they were students of ancient History or not. The initial chapters, out of total three parts of the book links reader’s memory back to famous Hindi novel of yesteryears called “Vaishali Ki Nagarvadhu” by the eminent author, Acharya Chatursen Shastri. At the same time what binds the attention of young, tech savvy readers is the racy, encapsulating narration to build up a long saga involving few generations.He is medical practitioner by profession with a passion to
