BOOKBROODER

AGNIPUTR: When Agni First Spoke

“Observation changes a phenomenon being observed and reality does not exist unless it is measured.”

I received this book from the author and believe me, I am really grateful that he provided me an opportunity to read it. This book turned out to be far more riveting than I was expecting. When the story started somewhere in a distant village of Gudem in Andhra Pradesh in 1940, with this beginning …

“The lone man gawked at the samadhi, a tomb.
He was a cadaverous individual wrapped in a dirty dark lungi around his lower torso. His flat lips were parched and as brittle as a sun-baked twig. He tried with little effect, to wet them with a sandpaper-dried tongue. He liked to think of himself as an aghora tantrik. A necromancer. He lived his life around rotting carcasses. He ate them sometimes or had intercourse with them and at other times called for spirits through them.”
AGNIPUTR

…I was almost sure that I was going to read a historical fantasy, flavored with typical Indian tantrism.

However, soon I realized that this was not only flavored with tantrism and ancient Indian wisdom but the author has also supplied it with condiments of alluring theories of modern quantum physics. When Sheila, A scientist and head of the project (that was to resolve the greatest mystery of science) met a 95 years old blind man, Pichi Rathya, whom she was searching to find the secret, she was astonished by this blind man’s casual take on quantum theories…..

“People think I am crazy, Pichi Rathya, but am I? What is not crazy Miss Sheila? I am a living proof that quantum physics, or at least some part of it, is sound. What if I tell you that this blind old man sees, everything, but at a subatomic level? What if I tell you that this is my curse? What if I tell you that when I die I live on, hence death is also an illusion? I am everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”

I found wisdom, drama, and suspense sprinkled everywhere in this novel.
In fact, this book is a complete package of entertainment!

This is written around an evergreen concept of combat between the Evil and God, but there is almost everything in this novel; you wish to have as a reader. An age-old mystery, a secret, science, village customs, supernatural depictions, interesting characters, a complex but captivating alliance between a lawyer and a scientist, betrayal, an obsessed power-hungry politician, an ancestral castle where is hidden, the secret……. And finally none other than AGNIPUTR!

I truly appreciate the execution part of the author. It was perfect and gave absolute satisfaction to me as a reader. He kept me engaged with the storyline and his lucid and wise writing kept me engrossed in the suspense created by him. I think the writing skill of the author that I witness, is beyond praise, as this book is only the second book from the author. A fast-paced page-turner, full of well-crafted suspense and written in a very lucid, witty, and intelligent way! I will recommend it to everyone!

Eat these Apples of Henry David Thoreau

I was preparing myself to read Walden. So before that, I chose this short writing piece of Henry David Thoreau to know about his writing. This short book speaks about apples. History of the apple tree, how wild apples grow, the fruit and its flavor, their beauty, naming them..etc. After the first paragraph of this book, I thought for a moment that this would be an uninteresting fact sheet about apples. I was proved wrong soon as it was not a boring sort of writing piece, it is written in a very delightful language. Beautiful poetic references and panoramic description of the journey of ‘Apple’ has given me a sweet-smelling palatable feel in reading!

It begins with a remarkable connection between the history of an apple tree and that of a man. There are some very interesting things from Greek mythology to modern geology, about apples in the book.

“Some have thought that the first human pair were tempted by its fruit. Goddesses are fabled to have contended for it, dragons were set to watch it, and heroes were employed to pluck it”

As per the author “Of trees, there are some which are altogether wild, some more civilized.” Theophrastus includes the apple among the last one. He writes how insects and birds welcomed the apple tree in the forest of France…

“The tent-caterpillar saddled her eggs on the very first twig that was formed, and it has since shared her affections with the wild cherry; and the canker-worm also in a measure abandoned the elm to feed on it. As it grew apace, the bluebird, robin, cherry-bird, king-bird, and many more, came with haste and built their nests and warbled in its boughs, and so became orchard-birds, and multiplied more than ever.”

Then encircling one of the best bearing trees in the orchard, people drank the following toast there several times:—

“‘Here’s to thee, old apple-tree,
Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow,
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!
Hats-full! caps-full!
Bushel, bushel, sacks-full!
And my pockets full, too! Hurra!’”

I don’t know if this “apple-howling” is still practiced in various counties of England on New Year’s eve, where the writer says…A troop of boys visited the different orchards, and, encircling the apple-trees, repeated the following words:—

“Stand fast, root! bear well, top!
Pray God send us a good howling crop:
Every twig, apples big;
Every bow, apples enow!”

Overall, I enjoyed this short book and it turned out to be a nice warm-up reading for me before turning to Walden! After having finished the book I am walking through a beautiful road, the fragrance of roses surrounds me, there is a river that is flowing with a loud noise, I can hear the sound of stones rolling on its foot. The road leads to the fruit market. I have seen so many decorated small and mid-size stalls there with all types of apples. I will buy some today. While walking on the road, I see no one around me. This is a rare moment for me because I don’t feel lonely even though I am alone.