Guardians of Meru

by Manoj Ramchandra

In this refreshing tale, a marvellous past meets the ordinary present in a narrative that springs from mythology. It goes on to explore some extraordinary aspects of the history of the Indian subcontinent.In a tribal village among the Satpura mountains, a restless teenager stumbles upon a strange conch lying beside a man presumably wounded by crows. A local doctor and a city professor team up with him only to find that a bunch of unscrupulous adventurers is trying to dig out one of the greatest secrets of the puranas. Hidden in the craggy hills of Satpura mountains that run parallel to the mighty Vindhya ranges, this secret originates in the Samudramanthana (the churning of the seas by Gods and Demons). It runs through various puranic episodes ultimately to rest with a crow who knows the history of the earth since its creation.Guardians of Meru tells the story of the gradual discovery of how the puranic secret is bound up with the reign of the most extraordinary King in Indian history. It ultimately leads to events that followed the tragic destruction of the greatest centre of learning and Buddhist scholarship. Ravi and the doctor finally succeed in foiling the unscrupulous adventurers and in securing the secret of the puranas to the tribe of crows, the Kaaks, who have been guarding it since the beginnings of time.

243 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 24, 2018

Reviews

[Bipin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story, I picked this book without reading the blurb, thinking it is about giant monsters guarding a secret on Meru parvat. I mistook Meru for Mainak (the one Hanuman crossed on the way to Lanka). Also, for some weird reason, I remember the cover containing a Godzilla like figure. So, imagine my surprise when the book opens with a guy injured by crows (after the prologue). Then I looked at the cover of my kindle book, only to realize that the image is that of a mountain and crows (an apt one).
The book was kind of a drag initially. I had to push myself for the first ~35%. It picked up pace after that. There were a lot of characters with their own motives. The author took his sweet time to bring them all together. Until the plot crossed the Wall, I felt as uncomfortable a city-dweller in a remote village. It was a whole different story beyond the Wall. And then there were crows. They would make excellent spies if not for the language barrier. I wish there was more background on Merukaaks. The ending kinda seemed abrupt. What did Gora wish for? How did Kaaks react? How did the antagonist react? What happened to Kadpi after that?
One last complaint is the use of slightly confusing names: Varun and Vaari, Gora and Gora sahibs, Guru and The Guru.
I would go with 3.5*. With a benefit-of-doubt, that's a 4.

[Manjri Gopalan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is about a few people/groups trying to uncover something valuable from the past. The plot is not well developed, there are many gaps, the writer has not bothered to complete a lot of things. Too many characters, confusing names, the intention of a set of people why they want to unearth the mystery is not clear. People (for instance Raghu) suddenly transform and turns into a good man. Overall, I would say an average read.

[Hunk Arun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm thoughtful

I advice slow and steady read
No running pls
Story takes little time to adjust to us..
Yet joyful reading