Title: The Krishna Key

Author: Ashwin Sanghi of the award winning ‘Chanakya’s Chant’ fame

Price: Rs 250

Publisher: Westland

Rating: 3.5/5

Mythology, fact and fiction –all three put together in just the right measure always has the potential to weave a tale of adventure and curiosity that is hard to put aside. Think about it mysterious historical relics, cryptic clues, a protagonist who knows the past just as well as the present, an equally appealing side-kick, a larger than life villain, startling twists and turns in addition to jaw dropping revelations at every step; wouldn’t you want a historical  thriller to encompass all that. Well I certainly would and I picked up ‘The Krishna Key’ with just that intention.

Ashwin Sanghi, in his book, makes an effort to take you through two story lines. One the familiar tales of Krishna as one would have grown watching on television or would have heard from their grandmother’s mouth. The other of a historian Ravi Mohan Saini who travels anxiously from Dwarka to Somnath, Mount Kailash to Agra in search of Krishna’s treasures while a group of Krishna fanatics out to snatch the key before Saini. Symbolic murders depicting that of Krishna, seals made to set on a plate which presumably is the key to world’s greatest treasure but all scattered and loads of historical and mythological facts make up Ashwin Sanghi’s ‘The Krishna Key’.

I must say a lot of research must have gone into writing this book. The first few pages evoke a sense of interest in you. The anecdotes and conclusions drawn by Saini seem interesting and you want to know more. But after a point it tends to get more elaborate than required. The very fact that grabbed your attention in the first place now prolongs the plot unnecessarily. I am sure the work done by Sanghi in writing this book was mountainous and definitely worthy of accolades. I mean just writing fiction is one thing, but writing something after putting in so much hard work is just amazing. But after a point Sanghi overdoes it; he stretches to a point where it gets a tad bit repetitive. As he tries to inculcate all his enquiries in his work, the plot seems to stagnate. Somewhere in the middle of the book Sanghi’s pace slows down and that is one of the turn offs for me. I found myself searching the plot in the middle of the sea of research at various points in the book.

The characters in the book are not something that would leave an imprint in your mind. Saini seems obsessed with history, mythology and goes on and on incessantly about symbolism and deductions which at certain points get unbearable. The other of Taarak Vakil which had so much promise seemed to have been left midway. Then there is the character of Sir Khan and his background story which also stretches more than required. The ‘doctoral student’ Priya, the inspector Radhika Singh and CBI director Garg, are run of the mill too. I get the feeling that Sanghi’s effort was put more into the research and accommodating it in the book which left the characters failing. He seems lost in deciding what direction to move the plot forward.

The hype he builds up with the chase is somewhat let down with the ending. Also, in many places in the book where Radhika’s actions were being described, Priya’s name was used; page 301 for one.

Ashwin Sanghi undoubtedly deserves every bit of praise for his hard work on the book. The plot had a lot of potential but what came out is worth a read nevertheless, atleast once. There are certain portions in the book which are jaw dropping. They leave you desiring to know more about the past but again there are sections which are explained over and over again that makes you want to get away from it as well. There is no doubt about the credentials of Ashwin Sanghi but ‘The Krishna Key’ is not his best work unlike the Chanakya’s Chant.