Book Review: Ashwin Sanghi_The Sialkot Saga

“Destiny is a funny thing.” Each one of us must have experienced this in varying degrees. The Sialkot Saga picks up on this and builds a story which weaves through centuries and generations to culminate is a moment which leaves one wishing for more. The story revolves around two protagonists, Arvind and Arbaaz, whose lives are separate yet intertwined in more ways than either of them could have ever imagined or might have been willing to admit.

The story starts in the bloodbath of one of India’s darkest hour and takes the reader through a maze of time frames that seem disconnected yet it never loses the plot. The lives of the protagonists are interspersed with love, fear, respect, ambition, greed, vengeance, sorrow, penance and what have you not. As Arvind and Arbaaz learn the ways of the world, each one carves out their own territory and is consumed by the never ending lust for more money, more power and more of that ever scarce commodity, love. While the story of Arvind’s and Arbaaz’s lives progresses, the reader is drawn in to a different world where an almost divine knowledge makes its way through the ages, fiercely protected and preserved for the greater good of humanity. The convergence of the two worlds leaves one with a hope for a better tomorrow.

The book is crisp, engaging and a wonderful read. It will keep readers of historical fiction engaged throughout. The pace of the story along with its deeply researched and striking temporal insertions, both ancient as well as from the recent past, are unique and add a different dimension for the creative mind to wander through. Overall, a brilliantly researched and a very well written saga.