Book Review: Private India

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Book Review: Private India

In Mumbai, the festive season of Navratri sees seemingly unconnected women killed by a psychopath. Detective Santosh Wagh, the head of Private India, and his team (ex-CID Nisha, tech expert Hari and forensic expert Mubeen) find themselves in the middle of all this, trying to nab the miscreant before he completes the series of murders on the ninth and final day of Navratri.

The Prologue of the novel mentions about the 7/11 attacks on Mumbai for which Indian Mujahideen, a terrorist outfit based in India, was the prime suspect. The novel goes on to depict another such planning to avenge the missions foiled by Private India. In the first part, the novel slowly submerges into the killing of the women and ultimately conjoins the two plots at the end.  Alongside Santosh and his team the novel brings in several supporting characters like the famous Jack Morgan (ex-marine and the boss at Private Agency) Rupesh Desai (Assistant Commissioner of Police and erstwhile a very good friend of Santosh), Munna (the dominating gang-lord of Mumbai) and Nimboo baba (the self-styled godman).

The novel commences with the murder of Dr. Jaiyen at a hotel which employs Private India as their ‘advisor’, which effectively brings in the protagonist to the middle of all the mess that follows. Next to be killed is a journalist, Bhavna Choksi.  Soon the killer starts killing high-profile women (the Chief Justice of Mumbai high court, a politician and a singing sensation) and the pressure mounts up on the investigating team of Private India. The notorious killer leaves behind different props with every murder and it is only after the fifth murder that Santosh is able to crack what exactly the props mean. There are tortuous twists and turns which leaves you with more than one theories to solve the murder until you arrive at the climax.

Highs-

The best part of the book was the ability of the author to make you visualize the scenes he’s describing.  The author describes the fine details of the scenes which breathes life into the story. You find yourself trying to make connections as new information is methodically unveiled. The reference to the Hindu Goddes Durga has been aptly done throughout the book, be it about her nine avatars or about the yellow cotton scarf and the thugee tribe.

Small stuff like the quirky introduction of the characters, quiescent enough not to affect the seriousness but still managing to squeeze out a giggle, makes this novel very likeable- “Mubeen was Private India’s full time medical examiner. Time of death, cause of death, manner of death- death was his speciality”. There is a fair amount of terse one-liners used in the novel which makes you appreciate the intelligence and adroitness of their usage by the writer. “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”

The first person speech used for the killer is a masterstroke. Not only it enhances the enigma of the killer but it also augments the depressing mania surrounding him.

Lows-

There are a few grammatical and spelling errors which is not at all expected from such a reputed publication. Apart from that the second part of the novel seems to lose a bit of pace. There is an intricate weaving of the plots which sometimes leaves the reader wanting a bit of simplicity because some of the plots seem unnecessary. The book has two climaxes and it should have been avoided as the second climax leaves you wanting more and seems insufficient.

Overall verdict-

The author reveals just enough to keep you at the edge of your seat. From the very description of the first murder, the author successfully develops an intrigue in the reader’s mind. The book is a very good read and I finished it within a day of receiving it. My overall rating would be 4/5.

Details -

Title             : Private India
Author        : Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson
Publishers : Arrow Books
Genre           : Fiction ( Crime Thriller)
ISBN 9780099586395

A trip to Leh and Ladakh

This post is a part of Skyscanner travel wizard activity at BlogAdda.com

A trip to Leh and Ladakh

Different people have different preferences for trip vacations. Some like the hustle-bustle of the crowded yet renowned cities like Paris and New York, some prefer the pleasant bucolic scenes and some opt for archaic places of historical importance. But my calling has always been the nature, specially the ice-caped mountains!! So, when I got the much-needed respite from my jam-packed schedule, I decided to make a quick trip to the scenically stunning Leh and Ladakh.

But owing to my sudden decision, I had no time to plan a week’s trip. That’s when a friend of mine suggested Skyscanner. Saying that Skyscanner’s Travel Wizard is good would be an understatement; it is simply the best!

The first step was to book tickets for the family of four. Skyscanner not only made the bookings hassle-free but I even got a great deal saving around 29,000 bucks on the return journey.

After the flight tickets were booked, the staying arrangements were to be done. I had to look no further than Skyscanner for that. It just took me few minutes to shortlist three hotels of my choice and after some more deliberations, I booked Hotel Yasmin for a week.

Lastly I had to look for transportation once we reach there and Skyscanner seemed just the perfect option for that too. My planning was done and dusted with in under an hour and all thanks to Skyscanner!

Trip to the Roof of the world

The commencement

Having already seen the heaven of India(read Kashmir), I had a very high benchmark for a scenery which would impress me beyond imagination. But little did I know that this trip to Leh would inflate those benchmarks to unattainable standards. Even before landing at Leh’s airport I had already finished half of my camera’s memory on the pictures I couldn’t resist clicking from the plane’s window. The eagle’s eye view of Leh was breath-taking. Overall it’s a very small town whose main source of income is tourism. The main tourism season starts around April and continues till late October before the snow sets in. On the journey from airport to the hotel in the cab hired through Skyscanner, I witnessed a number of Buddhist temples with typical prayer bells.

   

BUDDHIST PRAYER BELL

PRAYER BELL

Day 1(local sight-seeing):

After resting for half a day and acclimatizing to the high altitude discomfort, we were raring to out and explore Leh. On the first day we went local sight-seeing. Chiefly, we went to some of the most renowned monasteries in and around Leh. We started with the Hemis monastery, then visited the Thiksey monastery and finally to the yamaluru monastery. While Hemis was the biggest and most elaborated, Yamaluru and Thiksey were humble yet artistic. The monasteries gave a sneak peak to the lives that the monks lead.

             

HEMIS MONASTERY

THIKSEY MONASTERY

Day 2(Pang-gong Lake):

The next day saw us on a day’s trip to the famous Pang-gong lake. The lake is situated at a height of about 14,500 feet above sea level and is land-locked. To reach the lake one has to go through the Changla pass which is at about 17688 ft. high from the mean sea level. The snow covered mountains and the tortuous roads which, I must say, have been nicely maintained by the Border Roads Organization provided scintillating views.

   

CHANGLA PASS

CHANGLA PASS

Upon reaching the Pang gong lake we were amused to see the serene blue expanse of water with a flock of seagulls flying over it. The lake seemed an exact and precise reflection of the sky. It looked like the sky and the lake were one only to be separated by the brown mountains

THE PANG-GONG LAKE

Day 3&4(Nubra valley):

The third day’s places to visit were Nubra valley and Diskit village. I had booked a hotel at the Diskit village for a night’s stay through an agent of the same hotel that I booked through Skyscanner. The route to Nubra valley goes through the highest motorable road in the world- the Khardung-La pass which is at about 18380 ft. above the mean sea level. I even came across the story of origin of Maggi at the pass! The Diskit village of Nubra valley was a welcome change since it was at about 10,000 feet as compared to 13000 ft. altitude of Leh. I was amused to see the ubiquitious greenery after witnessing only snow-clad and dusty mountains till then. One of the main features of Diskit village is the sand dunes. I even rode on the double humped Bactrian camels. It was great fun!! You can even visit the Mahakali Mandir, which is situated at a steep height, and the giant Buddha Statue on the way.

THE CAMEL RIDE

THE MAGGI STORY

     

Day 5(Shanti stupa, Sangam, Magnetic Hill):

Our fifth day started with a visit to yet another monastery followed by a visit to the ‘3 Idiots’ school or the Druk White Lotus school. The school was very tourist friendly and gave us a peek of its innovative methods of construction of school buildings. We were also escorted to the famous point where ‘Chatur’ was given the “shock of his life”!

From there on we went to the Shanti Stupa. Set at 14,000 feet , one can witness breathtaking picteresque panorama of the entire horizon. It would be disparaging to describe it view through a mere photograph.

Our next stop was ‘sangam’. It’s the meeting point of two rivers, namely, Indus and Zanskar. Zanskar flows into the indus river and the distinction is widely discernible. You can even enjoy rafting here.

Next on cards was the mysterious Magnetic Hill. It is said that due to magnetic interference the hill is able to pull cars uphill. Though we witnessed it first hand, the guide rightfully informed us about this being an opotical illusion. However it was an uncanny experience of thrill when the car started moving on its own towards the steeper slope. On the way of our return to the hotel, we also went to the Leh palace and the military museum.

MAGNETIC HILL

SANGAM

SHANTI STUPA

DRUK WHITE LOTUS SCHOOL

                                                

        

Day 6(local marketing):

Its good come back with some physical manifestation of the beautiful memories of the places one has visited. Thus on the last day of the stay we decided to hit the markets. We went to the ‘Tibetan Gol market’, which is quite famous there and bought some mementoes. On the last day we went to a restaurant to have our food and I must say, it was delicious.

Day 7 –

The return journey was again facilitated by Skyscanner. I had booked a cab through SkyScanner and it dropped us to the airport.

Here’s the rough invoice of the journey-

1.     Flight tickets- 40,000INR( I save a great deal of money due to Skyscanner)

2.     Transportation+accomodation+food- 43,000 INR

3.     Personal expenses- 13,000 INR

And I managed to save 4,000 INR!!!! Thank you Skyscanner.

Everyone who has visited Leh and Ladakh would agree that the journey was enthralling yet enchanting at the same time and I’m no different. However, it would not have been possible to plan such a wonderful trip in such a short time period had Skyscanner not come to my rescue. Not only the service was good, but the range of facilities provided was colossal. It’s a complete one-stop solution to all the travel problems.