Our agreement with Fate

Due to paucity of time I am unable to update the blog regularly. However, I have decided to pen some short posts now and then.

I came across another gem from the Kagga. What follows is the verse in Kannada, its transliteration in English and a free translation (mine).

ಬೆನ್ನಿನಗಲವನಳೆದು ಹೊರೆಗೆ ನೀನ್-ಅದನ್-ಒಡ್ದು |
ತನ್ನದ್-ಎನುವುದನು ವಿಧಿ ತಾನೆ ಕೊಳಲಿ ಬಿಡು ||
ಬನ್ನ ನಿನಗ್-ಒದಗಲ್-ಅದನ್-ಆತ್ಮಶಿಕ್ಷಣವೆನ್ನು |
ಮಾನ್ಯದ್-ಒಪ್ಪಂದವಿದು - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೫೭೯

benninagalavanaLedu horege neen-adan-oDDu |
tannad-yenuvudanu vidhi taane koLali biDu ||
banna ninag-odagal-adan-aatmashikshaNavennu |
maanyad-oppandavidu - mankutimma || 579

Although a faithful translation is very difficult given that it is a poem, an attempt is as follows: (Request my knowledgeable Kannada readers to point out any mistakes in it and help me refine the translation).

Measure the span of your back (your capacity) and lend yourself to the burden that has befallen you accordingly. Let fate take care of the rest of the weight (of the burden). If you meet with failure, consider it to add to your "self-learning". This is a respectful agreement with (the capricious) fate - Oh Mankutimma !

Sarasvati: The lost river - Part III

This is the concluding part of my summary of the book, The Lost River, On the trail of Sarasvati by Michel Danino. In Part I, we saw the myths and legends surrounding Sarasvati river and research by experts in diverse fields to trace the evolution and disappearance of the river. In Part II, we saw the history of the discovery of Harappan Civilization and some of its defining characteristics. In this final post we will sketch out interesting work linking the two together. We shall also briefly touch upon the hidden agenda of some of the researchers and their reluctance to accept an overwhelming evidence against their preset notions and beliefs.

The contentious issue is how much of the legacy of Harappan Civilization is reflected in the later Ganga Civilization, which is considered as the starting point of Indian History. Was there a complete disconnect between the two ? or Was it a natural continuity of the former to the latter ? or Was the transfer somewhere in between ? An important piece to this puzzle is the Sarasvati river. It provides a copious evidence against a disconnect between the two civilizations. Definitely there has been an influence of the Harappan Civilization on the Ganges Civilization but the crucial question is To what extent are the two connected ?

However, acknowledging this fact of continuity of Harappan into Ganges Civilization will definitely put Aryan Invasion Theory out of commission and cast serious aspersions on the Aryan Migration Theory. This puts a lot of researchers, who have based their life on these theories, in a very difficult position. The Part III of the book gives a detailed summary of the work in this area (links between the Harappan and Ganges Civilizations) and explains how Sarasavati gets entangled in the Aryan debate. It is aptly titled "From Sarasvati to Ganga"

Part 3: Sarasvati : Linking Harappan and Ganges Civilizations

The relationship between the two civilizations can be categorized as "tangible" and  "intangible". I'll highlight a few of each which I found interesting.

Tangible Relationships

• City planning, ratios used in structures, construction techniques are heavily influenced in the later periods. In fact, the material used for flooring can still be found in villages near Kalibangan. The particular material is used since it is resistant to dampness and keeps mosquitoes away. 
• Weights and measures used, distance measures all have a counterpart in later cities and are resonated in ancient texts like Arthashastra, Shulbha Sutras etc. 
• Arts and crafts have a lot of influence. Toys used by children, board games including the dice used and so on. The bronze sculptures were made using the Lost Wax method which is used even to this day to create bronze figurines in Swamimalai in Tamil Nadu (An interesting but long video explaining the method is here for those interested) 
• Everyday items like armlets worn by men currently can be found on statues unearthed. Vermilion (Sindoor) worn by women are seen to  have Harappan roots.
• Agricultural practices been carried forward. An interesting anecdote recounted is that the researchers were wanting to know more about some ploughing practices of Harappans. To their surprise the exact same methods used by villagers nearby after 5 millenia! 

Intangible Relationships

These are related to art and iconography, religious practices, deities worshiped  and so on.

• A lot of symbols and iconography has been carried forward from the Harappan times. The famous Swastika is seen on many tablets found during excavations. Rangoli patterns that adorn the front of houses today can also be found in artifacts recovered. 
• Evidence of fire worship can be found. A lot of deities from the pantheons of Hindu gods and goddesses can be found. Shiva Lingas, worship of female deities is widely seen among the articles recovered from the sites.
• Lots of figurines excavated depict various Yogic postures. So there is evidence of Yoga having been widely in practice.
• A curious detail is that some of the fables like "The Fox and the Crow" have been depicted on clay tablets. 

Sarasvati and the Aryan debate 


The Aryan theory is based on the premise that the Aryans came to the Indian sub-continent and composed the Vedic hymns around 1500 BCE and moved towards the Gangetic plains between 1200 BCE and 1000 BCE. However, if that is the case, we have to accept the fact that Sarasvati had dried up around 1900 BCE, centuries before the Aryans came. So it implies that the Aryans came from Central Asia, crossed five major rivers and settled along the dry Sarasvati and wrote Rig-Vedic hymns extolling the "copious" waters of the dry Sarasvati. Does not make sense right ? This is what I mentioned in the beginning of the post.

So the proponents of these theories provide absurd and vacuous arguments to counter this gaping hole in their theory. Some say that the Aryans were remembering an "Afghan Sarasvati" and were trying to map that to the dry Sarasvati river. Some even say that it was all a grand imagination of a non-existent river and was only allegorical (In spite of having geographical descriptions of the river in the ancient texts).

What is a plausible story ?

Putting all the pieces of evidence from diverse areas together one can come up with a theory that best explains all the facts. The Vedic hymns were indeed written on the banks of the Sarasvati river when it was in full flow. The authors of the Vedas were the Harappans themselves. Something happened around 3000 BCE that caused Sarasvati to lose its major tributaries, Sutlej and Yamuna. So the river progressively dried up.

The people on the banks of the river moved eastwards towards the Gangetic plains in search of greener pastures. So Gangetic Civilization is a continuation of the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization and Ganga incarnated to be the new Sarasvati.  There is an interesting mention of Ganga inheriting many of the properties of Sarasvati, like her sister she is born out of Brahma's Kamandalu, she is the given of boons, is the goddess of speech and so on!

The book ends with a touching note. It talks about the gratitude of the Vedic folks towards Sarasvati that had nurtured them for long. A testimony to this, is the fact that they decided to remember "her" as an invisible river joining the Ganga and Yamuna in the Triveni Sangam.

So we are at the end of my post. It has been an enriching and educational journey for me. Hope I have  been able to provide a birds eye view of this fabulous journey!

Divine Dissatisfaction

Martha Graham was an American dancer. It is opined that she is to modern dance as Pablo Picasso is to modern painting. However, I know Martha Graham by a quote, which has touched my heart deeply. Here it is:

Agnes de Mille, a close associate and friend of Martha once confesses to her:

"I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. ... I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be."

In reply to that Martha says,

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

- Martha: The life and works of Martha Graham,  by Agnes de Mille (1992) 

Sarasvati: The lost river - Part II

In my previous post, we saw the legends tied around the Sarasvati river and its disappearance. In this post, I will try to cover the part two of the book, about the Harappan Civilization.

All of us have studied the Harappan Civilization (or Indus Valley Civilization, as it is often called) as part of our history curriculum in high school. It is common knowledge that Harappa and Mohenjodaro were the first discovered sites of this ancient civilization, discovered in the early part of 20th century by John Marshall. It is called Indus Valley Civilization in popular discourse (which is technically not the right name; We will see why later).

However, in our history books it is treated as a closed chapter and posited that the civilization vanished without a trace (some say it was decimated by the invading Aryans, which is a bunch of hokum). There is a lot more to it than that. A wealth of research that has been carried out in varied disciplines like Archaeology, Remote Sensing, Genetics, Linguistics and even Computer Science is almost unknown to the layperson! It is an active area even to this day and the holy-grail for all code breakers as it is one of the few (and the oldest) writing systems yet to be deciphered.

Part 2: Harappan Civilization

History of Discovery


In late nineteenth century when the British were laying railroads in Punjab and Sindh regions of North-West India, they needed ballast to stabilize the tracks. The northern plains with its alluvial soil is very unlikely place to get raw materials for ballast. However, they came across huge mounds of very high-quality bricks in a village called Harappa and places nearby. Using these bricks they laid ballast for over 160 km on the Lahore-Multan line. These were the bricks from the ancient city of Harappa!

Soon Alexander Cunningham (founder of Archaeological Survery of India (ASI) ) realized the importance of these ancient bricks to study the history of this place tried to put an end to this. He (and others at that time) were of the opinion that this must some ancient Buddhist site which must be explored. (The west had assumed Mauryan empire to be the starting point of Indian history). But Cunnigham retired soon and did not get a chance to investigate this. The task of excavation (and all the glory that followed) came to John Marshall, a young archaeologist newly appointed in the ASI.

Marshall, enthusiastically pursued the task of excavating these sites. He hired local scholars to determine the significance of the artifacts unearthed. Daya Ram Sahni, a Sanskritist and epigraphist, meticulously looked at the bricks discovered, their proportions and other characteristics. He opined that this belonged to a pre-Mauryan era. At the same time the seals were also discovered. However, they could not still establish a plausible date of these pre-Mauryan artifacts and also decipher the writing on the seals. Marshall published the findings, along with the pictures of the seals in Illustrated London News on 20th September 1924. He also requested if any knowledgeable readers can throw some light on the script. A week later, an Assyriologist pointed out that the same kind of objects were found in Mesopotamia which was dated to 3rd millennium BCE. So, in one stroke, the dates of Indian civilization was pushed back to atleast 3000 BCE! Not only was it a contemporary of Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilization but also reached out to them. A fabulous discovery indeed!

Expanse and number of sites discovered

The expanse of this civilization was huge. It roughly covered 800,000 sq. km., about a quarter of India's present size. Comparing it with its contemporaries, it was larger than ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia put together.

Over 3700 sites are identified as belonging to the civilization and the number is increasing over the years as new sites are being discovered every year.

It was mainly a city oriented civilization. Some of the large cities like Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan were over 100 hectares. In fact, it is estimated that Mohenjodaro supported a population of over 50,000 residents making it a New York or Tokyo of the ancient world.  It was a very prosperous civilization and highly advanced technologically. They carried out trade with distant places ranging from Oxus, Bactria, Dilmun, Magan, Elam, Ur, Kish and so on. Their trade was very far-reaching making it the first globalized market!

Curious and Enigmatic facts of the civilization


Apart from the fact that the Indus script is still undeciphered, there are a lot of unanswered questions challenging researchers about this ancient civilization. Perhaps deciphering the script will unlock many secrets and also put an end to a lot of controversial claims about this civilization. Next, I will list a few curious facts and enigmatic features presented in the book.

• The cities were an engineering feat in themselves. Each city had well constructed roads and boulevards, a well maintained drainage system, systematic construction of houses (sometime containing 2-3 storeys). All this give a feeling that they had a very high degree of civic sense. Attention to detail and effective planning is evident from the excavations (Sadly, absent in many modern Indian cities). The common citizens were pampered and much attention was paid to their well being. 
• Evidence of artifacts of Harappan civilization is seen in far off places. However, no ancient artifact of the other civilizations are found in any Harappan sites. Does that mean the trade was one-sided ? Perhaps they traded only perishable goods .. Nobody has a satisfactory answer
• The civilization is marked by the absence of many "common" aspects that we find in other ancient civilizations. 
• Absence of any royal symbols. No palatial buildings in cities, no royal tombs no sign whatsoever of a powerful ruler controlling the "empire" 
• Absence of military artifacts. No weapons or helmets or shields discovered. None whatsoever of any sign of conflict. Was it a Utopian society ?

Indus Civilization and Sarasvati river

A curious fact that is emerging from recent findings is that the Indus Civilization was not just watered by the Indus river-system alone. There had to be another major river-system that supported this. Starting from the work of legendary archaeologist Aurel Stein, this notion of another river system has been investigated. Location and distribution of the various Indus civilization sites suggest that a significant number of sites are distributed along the now dry Ghaggar-Hakra basin (which is shown to be the ancient Saravati). In the light of these facts, one might question the correctness of naming this as Indus Valley Civilization (It is common practice to name a civilization after its first discovered site, so terming it Harappan Civilization is not incorrect). In fact, many researchers now rightly call it the Indus-Sarasvati Civilization. 

In the next part, I will try to elucidate the continuity in the civilization chain from the Indus to the Ganges Civilization which is part 3 of the book. 

Before signing off, I would like to share an interesting TED talk on attempts to decipher the Indus script.

Sarasvati: The lost river - Part I

प्रणो देवी सरस्वती वाजेभिर्वाजिनीवती  

धीनामवत्रियवत्  ॐ वाग्देव्यै नमः  ||

"Salutations to Goddess Sarasvati who is the originator of all vibrations and who removes the ignorance of the intellects. Salutations to the Goddess of speech."

- Rigveda

Ever since I first heard about the Harappan Civilization from my history teacher in high school, I have always been fascinated about it and have wished to know more. This might have been due to my visceral feeling that it is somehow intertwined with my roots. However, what I learnt in the syllabus was partly influenced by Aryan invasion theory (AIT). From what I know, this (or its lesser-evil twin, Aryan Migration theory) is still taught in the curriculum for current high school students. My current post (and a few to follow) is not about the debate between the AIT camp and the Indigenous Aryan camp, one that is going on even to this day in academic circles. It is about a book I read recently, "The Lost River, On the trail of the Sarasvati" by Michel Danino, which summarizes research that has been undertaken for over four centuries on this ancient river and its relation to the Harappan civilization and tries to synthesize this in the form of a narrative.

I read a review of this book in the history blog varnam. The book is a compelling read. It very beautifully narrates the story of the quest for Sarasvati river. However, it is also very rigorous, replete with many footnotes and references at the right places for further reading. It is also filled with maps and other illustrations to explain the complex saga of the river's history and its search. Apart from getting to know the full story, I also picked up a few interesting set of facts while the reading the book. I will try to summarize the book and also share a few interesting observations in a couple of posts starting from this one.

The book is divided into three parts:

1. History of the Sarasvati river
2. Harappan civilization
3. Links between Sarasvati river and Harappan civilization

Part 1: Sarasvati river

River-systems in ancient India

This part talks about the river's complex history, its myths and legends and references in various sources like Vedas, Mahabharata and the Puranas. It also narrates the efforts to trace its path starting from the meticulous surveys done by the British Raj to the most recent research done in areas as diverse as archeology, climatology, literature, geology and even nuclear physics! (used in dating ancient waters)

What amazed me was not just the fact that such seemingly disparate areas of knowledge contributing to our understanding of this lost river but also that this research study is so vast and numerous and is being carried out even to the present day!  

An interesting set of stories is regarding the river and its disappearance is recounted in this part as gleamed from various sources. I will list a few of the interesting ones below:

On Sarasvati going to the desert (Mahabharata): Uthatya's (a rishi mentioned in the epic) wife is abducted by demigod Varuna while she is bathing in Yamuna. The sage enraged by this, makes 600,000 lakes in the region where Saraswati flowed, disappear in order to teach Varuna (lord of water element) a lesson. He also commands the Sarasvati  to "leave this region and go to the desert". An interesting consequence of this is the fact that a lot of towns in North-West India (which is an arid desert) are named after lakes (their names ending in 'sar', like Lunkanasar ). Curious though it seems to name places in a desert that makes it look like a lake country this is one the indications of more water being present here in the past.

Balarama's pilgrimage along Sarasvati during the Kuruksketra war: This is well-known tale where he traverses the river's path and takes a dip in many of the tirthas. He also describes at great length its disappearance at many places.

Padma Purana legend: Brahma persuades Sarasvati to carry an all-consuming fire, that was threatening the whole world, to the ocean. Here, we can read fire to be an allegorical reference to a severe drought that affected the region a long time back. She carries it with her, makes a brief stop at Pushkar (one of the few places where Saraswati's consort Brahma is worshiped) and takes this 'fire' to the ocean. Curious isn't it ?

Research has shed some light into the evolution of river-systems of Northern India. A river (like a living being) evolves over time, changes its course and even might die and be lost. Now we have evidence to believe with confidence that a long time back, Sarasvati was fed by two major rivers of the present day, Sutlej and Yamuna. The main reason for Sarasvati's disappearance was that it was deserted by its two main sister rivers.  There is a lot of speculation as to what caused this event (perhaps a major tectonic event) and when this happened. The account of the two rivers separating from Sarasvati (Sutlej joined Indus, Yamuna joined Ganga) is also hinted at many places in literature. A couple of interesting tales follow, one about Yamuna and another about Sutlej:

Balarama's inebriation: Once after consuming some 'divine liquor' Balarama in his intoxicated state, wanted to take a dip in Yamuna. In his drunken stupor he wanted to summon Yamuna to himself so that he can bathe in her. So Balarama using his weapon, the plough dragged her! If you trace the course of Yamuna on a map, it takes a sharp turn to the east and then proceeds to join Ganga downstream. This sharp turn is termed as the 'Yamuna tear' by geologists. A nice legend to record a sharp turn in Yamuna's course.

Sutlej and sage Vasishtha: In Rig-Veda Sutlej was called Shutudri meaning swift-flowing. Post-Vedic literature termed this river as Shatadru which means having hundred channels. Geologists now confirm the quirkiness of Sutlej and its constant course changing nature which corroborates the ancient name Shatadru. Vasishtha upon the knowledge of his sons being killed by his arch-rival Visvamitra, wants to give-up his life. All his efforts to commit suicide is foiled by the elements of nature. Finally, he plunges himself into Shutudri. The river thinks he is a ball of fire and it flows in hundred different directions thereby becoming Shatadru!

Let me end my post here. In the next part, I will try to summarize part two of the book, the one dealing with the discovery of Indus Civilization. Stay tuned :-)

"Kindle"ing the passion for reading

“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.”

-Elizabeth Hardwick

While coining this pithy observation, what probably Elizabeth Hardwick did not have in mind was electronic book readers, the advent of which has made the above statement all the more apt.

Amazon Kindle 3.2.1

Recently, I was fortunate to be gifted an Amazon Kindle. I have never been as exited about a gadget as much as now. Probably, getting my first PC felt the same. I never miss an opportunity to show my Kindle off to people I know (or don't know) and brag about its features and advantages! My friends have now labelled me as "A Kindle evangelist" :-)

A must have for all voracious readers out there. Goodbye to all the rack space occupied by bulky "actual" books. This is one of those disruptive technologies that will redefine the publishing industry. We are already seeing this trend.

Why shouldn't we consider it to be a replacement to actual books when the look-and-feel is quite the same and it comes with significant other benefits ? Its E-ink display can hardly be distinguished from the look of printed paper, the result of which is that, it does not cause any eye strain (unlike regular LCD displays which have faster refresh rates). As a side effect of this, these e-book readers have longer battery life. A Kindle's battery lasts for more than a month after a full recharge, which makes it an excellent travel companion.

It comes with a host of useful features which one uses while reading. An easy-to-use in-built dictionary lookup, effortless page navigation, creating highlights, notes, bookmarks, an experimental music player, Wi-Fi connectivity and a browser and so on. It can also load pdf files, though it might not have the same page navigation ease as the mobi format.

The first book I "purchased" and read was Alice in Wonderland. I also read a couple of stories from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I plan to read many of the English classics available for $0 :-)
You could also look for free books elsewhere.

Each one can find her own set of ways to use a Kindle apart from reading books. I used it during bus journeys to prepare for a presentation (after loading the pdf version of the presentation). I also recently discovered that I could read research papers which are single-column formatted pdfs. You can play around more with your gadget if you consider to Jailbreak it. Though I haven't tried it yet, there are a lot of resources for doing so and to learn other tips and tricks. My friend pointed me to a versatile utility called Calibre that allows one to inter-convert between many different e-book formats. I now download pdf e-books and convert it to mobi format, a nifty little trick.

Finally, I would like to sketch the serendipitous turn of events that led me to having a Kindle. I was planning to buy it and one morning I decide to tell a friend who was going to US to buy me one. Fortunately, I convey this piece of information to another friend of mine who happens to be gadget-savvy and had returned from the US recently. When I say this, he retorts "I have already brought you one!" . If I had not told him, I would have ended up ordering it. My only grouse apart from him insisting that it is was gift is that I would have gone for a Wi-Fi+3G version. But thats only a minor quibble.

Thanks a lot Mahesh for such a thoughtful and useful present!

Saartha

Very few works of fiction have the power to translocate the reader to the alternate universe of the plot. Saartha, by Dr. S. L. Bhyrappa is one of them. For a general introduction to Dr. Bhyrappa's works one could read this.

My exposure to Dr. Bhyrappa's works is only very recent. Thanks to my cousin, an ardent Bhyrappa fan, I am 5 books old now. The experience has been very sublime.

This post is not a review of the profound work. By no means I have the intellectual capacity to do this. This is just my experiences while reading this novel.

Saartha can be classified under the genre of historical fiction. It depicts the political, economical, social and religious conditions of India in 8th Century CE. The period when Buddism in India was at its peak, there was in-fighting among various kingdoms like the Rashtrakutas and the Gurjara-Pratiharas. It also marked the advent of Arab invaders on the Indus plains and their obstruction to trade routes.

The protagonist, Nagabhatta is a well educated Vedic scholar trained under the famous Mimamsaka at that time, Mandana Mishra. Nagabhatta is a very good friend of the King of Taravati (a fictional kingdom sandwiched between the giant kingdoms of the north and south), Amaruka. In the interest of understanding the trade secrets and on the insistence of the king, he sets on an epic voyage along the trade routes of ancient India. He joins a caravan (Saartha) in the guise of a student who intends to travel to Mathura seeking higher education.

Thus begins the protagonist's encounters with various cultures, philosophies and interesting people. It also marks the beginning of his own self-discovery.

Without delving into the details of the plot, I would like to give a sketch of the important events, enough to whet one's appetite. In the course of time, Nagabhatta meets Buddhist Bhikkus, Yogis, left-handed tantriks, Sankara, Kumarila Bhatta and so on. He also becomes a part of a troupe which enacts episodes from the chronicles of the life of Sri Krishna and travels all over north India. Here he befriends Chandrika, a fellow artist who also happens to be a practitioner of Yoga. He happens to visit the famous Naalanda university, the description of which is breathtaking and invokes in us a sense of awe at the universities of yore. He also witnesses the self immolation of Kumarila Bhatta.

Circumstances also lead him to witness the great debate between Mandana Mishra and Sankara presided by Ubhaya Bharati, the wife of Mandana Mishra himself. Outlines of the debate which led to the defeat of Mandana Mishra, how Bharati steps in to protect her husband and the oft-debated event of parakaya-pravesha by Sankara to answer some of the queries posed by her is woven into the plot in an inexplicably elegant fashion. Towards the end of the novel, the troupe is performing in Mulastana, which is now controlled by the Arabs who are disrupting the trade arrangements. The troupe is trying to garner enough support from the local populace for a coup but its plans are foiled and is dealt severely by the Arabs.

The canvas which the author sets for his novel is very panoramic: A transition period where there was a lot of turmoil; Clash of various philosophies - buddhist, purva-mimamsa, tantric, uttara-mimamsa and so on; The protagonist's roller-coaster emotional ride; Advent of monotheistic faiths to India.

The author presents before us a work of historical fiction where little damage has been done to historical accuracy yet leaving enough room for him to build his plot very creatively. The plot-device of using a character as a protagonist who is not famous historically but is somewhat distantly connected to historical figures / events is spectacular. (For lack of any other example, I could find a similar technique used in the movie Forrest Gump).

Finally, the language is so simple but so powerful. I find this in all of Dr. Bhyrappa's works that I have read. It is a treat to read him. You are completely lost in the story and begin associating with the characters in them. The characters are so life-like and the situations are so real. Only the reader can experience the true joy in reading his works and one is hard-pressed for words to describe the whole reading experience!

Saartha is must read for all those who are even remotely interested in philosophy and/or history.