Harappa - Book Review

Harappa
By Vineet Bajpai
Review By Ila Garg

Harappa, a novel by Vineet Bajpai, is published by VB Performance LLP. The cover is quite a sight. The blend of colours is attractive. The intermixing of day and night on a single cover is amazing! I loved the colours and the concept. One of the best covers I have seen lately… The sub-title—Curse of the Blood River—adds to the thrill element.

Vineet is a first-generation entrepreneur. At age 22, he started his company Magnon from a small shed. Today Magnon is among the largest digital agencies in the subcontinent, and part of the Fortune 500 Omnicom Group.
He has led the global top-ten advertising agency TBWA as its India CEO. This made him perhaps the youngest ever CEO of a multinational advertising network in the country.
He has won several entrepreneurship and corporate excellence awards, including the Entrepreneur of the Year 2016. He was recently listed among the 100 Most Influential People in India’s Digital Ecosystem.
Vineet’s second company talentrack is disrupting the media, entertainment & creative industry in India. It is the fastest-growing online hiring and networking platform for the sector.
He has written three bestselling management & inspirational books—Build From Scratch, The Street to the Highway and The 30 Something CEO.
He is an avidswimmer, a gaming enthusiast, a bonfire guitarist and a road-trip junkie. He is 39.

The blurb reads as, “2017, Delhi – Vidyut’s dying ancestor summons him to Banaras. The old Brahmin chieftain of the Dev-Raakshasa Matth, or the God-Demon Clan, bears a chilling secret. Their bloodline carries an ancient curse that will plague mankind - towards its own violent extinction.
1700 BCE, Harappa – Harappa is a magnificent city on the banks of the mighty Saraswati river. The darkness of treachery, taantric exorcism and bloodshed unleashes itself on the last devta, paving the way for his devastating revenge…and the horrifying truth behind the fall of the glorious civilisation.
2017, Paris – The world’s most powerful religious institution is rattled. Europe’s dreaded crime lord meets a mysterious man in Paris. A lethal assassin boards a train, as Rome fears the worst. The prophesied devta has returned.
What connects Banaras, Harappa and Rome? What was the ancient curse and who was the last devta? What is the terrible secret behind the fall of the colossal Indus Valley? Read on as you travel through a saga of deceit and violence, gods and demons, love and ambition.”

I will begin by congratulating the author for choosing such a subject to deal with in the book—going back in the past and writing about something historical isn’t an easy task. And yet the author took the risk and did the required research for it. It’s commendable!

So coming back to the book—Harappa is a historical fiction and it traces a journey of 3,700 years. It begins in 2017, Delhi, where a young entrepreneur, Vidyut Shastri gets an unexpected summon from his 108-year-old great grandfather. He is on his deathbed in Banaras and wants to reveal a rather disturbing secret about their bloodline. This old man is a Brahmin and chieftain of the Dev-Raakshasa Matth (God-Demon Clan). There is a hidden conspiracy around the fall of the entire civilisation.

The story thus moves from Delhi to Banaras to Rome, Paris while giving glimpses from Harappa. It’s a roller-coster ride from history to mythology, from religion to exorcism, from gunfights and warriors to tantrics, and from love to ambition—the book has it all. Some haunting questions are finally answered as we move along the plot, reading about the Indus Valley and the curse of the ‘blood river’.

The language is simple and easy to comprehend. Nowhere will a reader feel any disconnect. It’s so well-written that once you pick up, you will find yourself engrossed in the story. You won’t want to keep it down without finishing it off. However, it’s a rather long one, 316 pages to be precise! So, eventually you will take some days before you reach the end, but it’s worth it. The narration is so gripping that I at once found myself travelling back and forth with Vidyut, living the tale as I went on reading the book. I found it quite engaging and interesting. The subject is tackled beautifully by the skillful author. The details have been put in after a thorough research and it shows (although it’s still a fiction with no connection to reality).

Further, this 316-page book is a light read and overall a compelling book. Who is Vidyut, who is the old man who summons him to Banaras, what connects Banaras, Harappa and Rome, what is the curse of the blood river, who is the most powerful man of their bloodline, who was the last devta, why does Vidyut say that he is a half-human half-God, what does this imply, will the mankind be saved from the ancient curse of the colossal Indus Valley are some of the many reasons why you will keep turning the pages to find out what happens in Harappa.

The book is highly recommended because it’s truly a masterpiece.

Ratings: 4.5/5

Buying Link: Amazon

This (Unbiased) book review is a part of "The Readers Cosmos Book Review Program". To get free books log on to thereaderscosmos.blogspot.com. Thanks Nimi Vashi for giving me the opportunity to read such a nice book!