Friday, February 23, 2007

AvaraNa by SL Bhyrappa: an eye-opener?

AvaraNa is a term used in Vedantic and Buddhist literature to denote that aspect of nescience (avidyA) that obscures all things. This word has been used with the same intention by SL Bhyrappa as the title of his latest novel.

AvaraNa - the novel has created history in the Kannada publishing industry. No other recent book has been sold out as soon as this book. Even before this book was formally released, eager readers awaiting Bhyrappa's latest novel bought all copies from book stores leaving people like me without the latest book. However, I was able to procure a copy directly from the publisher - Sahitya Bhandara. Needless to say, I then devoured the book in less than two days, in spite of hectic work. After all, isn't this the latest book written by the knowledgeable philosopher-novelist Bhyrappa?

The Kannada publishing industry is much bewailed these days. But Bhyrappa's books buck the trend and most of them have gone on to multiple editions.

This book is probably the most controversial that Bhyrappa has written. It deals with the relationship between Hinduism and Islam which, as everybody knows, can be termed tenuous at best.

Most of Bhyrappa's novels are based in and around a few districts of Karnataka or have characters that are from that region. He feels that this is essential in order for him to get into the mind of the character and maintain realism at the same time. Another feature of his novels is the strong female character. Both of these can be found in AvaraNa as well.

I will try not to give too many spoilers in this post - but AvaraNa is a book that can be read even if one knows its full gist. This is because it is not a regular novel. Anyway, for those who haven't read AvaraNa yet and want to do so, this is the point to decide if you want to continue reading this post or not.

Before I start delving into the book, I will try to explain why I have written this post about a Kannada book in English. I saw some reviews of AvaraNa in English on the Net. One review, especially, has compared AvaraNa to the Da Vinci Code. Let me just say that the effort is like comparing apples to oranges. But, as a result of that review, this book has become famous in non-Kannada circles as well. I wish to give a different perspective to the interested non-Kannadiga as well and that is why I am typing this post up in English.

The book begins with the protagonist, Razia, contemplating the ruins of Hampi. She, a screenplay writer, and her husband Amir, commissioned by the government, are in Hampi to make a documentary. The ruins of Hampi move Razia, who by birth is a Hindu - Lakshmi, so much that she continues to study more about it. Significantly, Lakshmi's introspection is also prodded by the destruction of the controversial masjid at Ayodhya - which she comes to hear about.

The story moves through a recollection by Razia on the circumstances of her marriage and simultaneous conversion to Islam. Lakshmi, clouded by love and a heady socialist euphoria that prevailed in that age, does not pay much importance to her symbolic conversion to Islam. Her inter-religious marriage makes her an icon in society for feminism as well as freedom from religious dogma. Her father, a staunch Gandhian, does not like his daughter getting married to a Muslim and disowns her and several years pass. Her father passes away and she visits her village in a long time. Razia/Lakshmi sees a library full of books on history that were read by her father and digs deep into them.

The matter that she discovers in the books causes an epiphany in her. She begins to read those even more and realizes that there has been a systematic pulling the wool over the eyes of society. She writes a very interesting novel - which forms the parallel track of AvaraNa also - to express her understanding. She opposes the system that is creating an AvaraNa to prevent society's understanding of the truth.

The story-within-a-story technique is not new to Indian literature. The Panchatantra is full of these, for example. But a parallel track is interesting and it is probably Bhyrappa's first attempt at this. It comes off very well, I should say. The story that Lakshmi writes in AvaraNa is simultaneously metaphorical and historical. Set in the mid-Mughal period, several historical aspects like the destruction of the Vishvanatha temple at Kashi by Aurangzeb are described in the parallel track. The characters in the parallel story mirror Lakshmi's story to a certain extent and also current Indian/Hindu society. This story is the best part of AvaraNa and I won't add any spoilers to that here.

This parallel track seems to be a continuation in the voice of "sArtha" - Bhyrappa's earlier historical novel. The only change is that the voice, in the case of "AvaraNa", has been emasculated - literally. That voice can be taken to be the voice of Hindu Dharma declining because of the assaults it endured. The description of several events in the parallel track is chilling.

Razia/Lakshmi faces lot of opposition from her in-laws who are staunch Muslims when she does not follow several Islamic customs - Hijab, for instance. Her son, who is raised by her in-laws, has a complete Islamic upbringing. She finds out that the religion of her in-laws does not confer freedom and peace upon its adherents. There are several parts of the novel that describe Islamic customs in detail and in that aspect, this book is more of a documentary than a novel.

An interesting aspect is that whenever the Prophet (PBUH) is mentioned in the book, it is suffixed by a ("sa") (which is the original Arabic for the PBUH acronym that is seen whenever that name is mentioned - such as earlier in this sentence).

The "AvaraNa" that Lakshmi/Razia faces is brought out well. For instance, she attends a conference on text book writing that is quite reminiscent of the "detoxification" effort of our honorable government. None of the professors in that meeting is able to answer Lakshmi in argument and yet, her points never go well with the establishment. It is as if they are unable to see the evident truth that is in front of their eyes - which is what AvaraNa really is.

A piece about AvaraNa can never be complete without mention of Prof. Shastri's character. This is a character that has tasted the wonderful benefits of being a celebrity Socialist in India. This smooth talking educationist has shades of several real well-known personalities in him. I won't mention who it is - but it will be pretty evident for anyone who reads the book. Shastri is the one who persuades Lakshmi to take up Islam as an act of rebellion against "oppressive Hinduism". Prof. Shastri has the wonderful ability of reinterpreting any event of history in that communistic light - in terms of oppressors and the oppressed, much similar to that of several of our comrades. For instance, he interprets Hampi's ruins as due to Shaiva-VaishNava clashes instead of Islamic Iconoclasm. He epitomizes the class of left leaning intellectuals that have sold their conscience to the establishment in return for the favors it bestows upon them. Of course, he is not an honest man as well.

The novel ends with Lakshmi/Razia trying to publish her novel, to find it banned by the government. A consoling part of the novel is that Amir, Razia's husband realizes what his wife has been fighting for and gets ready to help her. A list of books read by Razia/Lakshmi can be found at the end of the book and it also serves as a bibliography - something that is unheard of for a novel. Bhyrappa has resorted to this to defend the book from possible bans. His logic is the same as his character's. If his book is banned, then each and every book in the list at the end of the book might also need to be banned.

The book is wonderfully informative and is cause for deep introspection. Bhyrappa has forever argued for relationships between communities to be based on a strong foundation of truth rather than systemic misinformation. It is no different in this book. Though Islam has come in for rough treatment, to put it mildly, there are some parts that cause a person to pause and think for a while. For instance, a Hindu character is told that his gods are not as powerful as Allah for they could not protect their own abodes from destruction at the hands of Allah's men. Having seen temples at Somnath, Varanasi and Mathura destroyed, won't any Hindu feel demoralized? That argument about the relative power of gods, though childish, can provoke some serious thought.

Amir, though born and brought up a Muslim, sees his wife's plight and sides with her at the end of the book. In my mind, this also shows that Bhyrappa is still an optimist. People may deride Bhyrappa for being an anti-Islamic person after they read this book. But they can never say that he is anti-human. Bhyrappa seems to believe that this fundamental human quality will triumph over any religious dogma.

Bhyrappa, in my opinion, has been a bit simplistic in several parts in the novel. For instance, Shastri's wife is a staunch British Catholic and wants her daughter to grow up as one. But, just think of it. A British woman who can marry an Indian against her parent's wishes doesn't look like she can be as rigid as portrayed in the book. Certain situations in the novel look artificially set up, as if they were there just for a theological discussion waiting to happen. And finally, I don't know if any writer can escape this - but a few characters and situations in AvaraNa seemed like callbacks to older works of Bhyrappa.

Though most of the facts related in the book were already known by me and some of the books in the bibliography had already been read by me, this book's worth, IMO, is in the literary presentation. The parallel track, the imagery - for instance, that of a cow whose calf has been tied up elsewhere (there are several other examples if one cares to read deeply) , the language, the situations and the character development are all outstanding.

However, superficial readers of the book might feel a strong feeling against Islam, which is certainly NOT Bhyrappa's intent. But he definitely wants to discuss "minority-ism" in India. This is similar to the spirit in which he wrote against Girish Karnad's glorification of Tipu Sultan as a national hero. But because of all this, it may not go down too well with the government.

My only hope is that this does not lead to some more mindless violence and yet another idiotic book ban.

If you haven't read it yet, please do. Sahitya Bhandara's Bangalore number is 2287-7618.

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please read another review at : http://mitramaadhyama.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=29

Sandhya said...

Hi,

Nice post..you have cleanly described the key aspects of the novel. And definitely its not a spoiler...rather its an accelarator for those who are still struk with inertia !! :)

As I read the novel...i couldn't stop comparing various characters in this novel with that of Vamshavruksha [ which is still my all time favorite ].

One thing I noticed was this novel and Vamshavruksha move in 2 opposite directions...

In that novel...characters move from being extremely orthodox....to being libral....

Here lakshmi..goes back to her original religion...

pls share your thougts on this.

Anonymous said...

To Understand islam read the QURAN and HADEETH you will get more wisdom and knowledge about religion.
Writing such novels just to criticise islam and to gain cheap popularity among hindus are common nowadays. This writer is a hyppocrite, he does'nt know his own religion and writing about islam.
Now to readers: If u want to understand abt islam read quran which is an ultimate message to entire human being. Just by reading some characters portrayed in this novel wont give u clear picture rather its creating a misconception among hindus to hate islam. I felt ashamed to see that such writers are writing against other religions when they does'nt know their own. Here Lakshmi becoming razia and razia becoming lakshmi again is all nonsense and just a story created by writer to earn some money and popularity. Even i can write against hinduism and can earn popularity by creating such characters. But i learnt from islam to respect other religions also. Also i have read great vedas to understand what is hinduism, i dont read novels or documentaries to know about any religion.

Ganesha Lingadahalli said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ಸಿಂಧು sindhu said...

To anonymous::

Kindly review Bhairappa’s work as a literary piece and then comment on it. If you are commenting on the novel, please talk/write about the literary aspects than offering your views on writer’s personality or knowledge. I am a humble reader and most certainly don’t belong to any so called isms – like fundamentalism or secularism. Hinduism is not just Vedas and it’s a lifestyle. Irrespective of the religions we belong, I think we all need to respect one aspect of Hinduism - it stands for its tolerance. Yes, Hinduism and Hindu kingdoms too had and have power politics destroying the essence of common and simple life. Then which ism or religion did not do that.. All power hungry people used religions as their arsenals. If u come to common people, they do live in harmony depending on each other irrespective of the religions and faiths. Even the Avarana novel while unveiling the facts on Muslim invasion on our culture, also narrated the plight of Hindu rulers and some of their narrow mindedness.
The novel has reflected all strata of society – from an uneducated rural setting to the highly educated urban setting, from unquestionable faith of the simple and common people to the all questioning and non believing, ever lobbying intellectuals and elite. He has bashed orthodox in both the religions mercilessly. He just revealed the way of life in two different contexts. He has even beautifully brought up the emotions of the other people and their tolerance level in the village. This is so true. You can change the name, place and time and go to any village in India and you will see similar way of life.
If you are open enough to appreciate the facts, you won’t think of this novel or the writer as hypocritical. Hinduism is open for change and is already adopting to new way of life with all its ancient essence. It is all other isms, secular, fundamental, power politic creed who are never open and ready to change. This is what is discussed in the novel. Show me the Muslim country where the tolerant Islam has banned its Talaaq culture! which oppresses the women. A shame on humanity.
But you see here in India, the banning of Sati, the untouchables in the mainstream, accepting and tolerating all other religions and living together. It definitely wouldn't have happened but for the tolerant Hindu roots. The so called tolerant Islamic elected rulers debate in their parliament whether to include Harappa Mohenjo-Daro civilization details in the text books and are not ready to do so citing it will evade Muslim faith.. !? But our text books while citing Khilji,ghori,ghazni invasion, price Akbar and other Mughal rulers and their good doings. We cherish Taj Mahal as a historical and our own monument. But what has happened to the Bamion Buddhas in the recent past..?
I have respect for all the religions. I respect your faith in Islam. My question is – why are you jumping when the truth is unveiled. I have no doubt that you are a good civilian with a cultured manners. Try to look at the issue objectively. Aren’t you curtaining your own views by coming to a conclusion that this novel is against Islam? Please read the novel’s concluding chapter which quotes Swami Vivekananda’s view. I don’t think any of us are as secular as Vivekananda and as faithful as him about humanity. Also the writer himself has a great respect for his fellow muslim people. His initial thanks in the book is to a Muslim sister and her family who had helped him understanding the religion.

My only concern is, readers of our generation (young and open-minded) should at least be able to look at the issue objectively and not emotionally.
All of us know, I cannot be beaten for the torturous ways my grand-grandpa would have troubled my neighbor tenant based on his caste and I cannot break a fellow person’s neck for the barbarity his clan had on our culture.
We are through those days.
We need to learn from the history and live more tolerantly than ever. Its just not allowing quotas for political gains or allowing number of masjids or mandirs. Its about accepting our old vices and get along with better things for the present day life. Its about - Doing away with meaningless customs in the present situation irrespective of the religions and learning the real essence of religion – live and let live. Its about developing a brotherhood and not allowing bloodshed.
My sincere request to you is, please read the book objectively, don’t miss the last chapter quoting Vivekananda’s views, I am sure, your earlier knowledge of Vedas are reiterated here. Then come up with an objective review, barring personal emotions.

You can refer to the bibliography given in the book to verify the facts and then please come up with conclusive information about saying/writing Bhairappa has blown up the facts. We, (in fact Bhairappa himself)will be open to learn things which are not known and accept if there are mistakes in (his)our understanding.

To Nilagriva – thanks a lot for writing a balanced review of the novel. I hope your write-up will unveil the myths about the book -Avarana, for secularists and fundamentalists alike.

Anonymous said...

Nilagriva,

Very nice review indeed - I am waiting to read the novel, which I am expecting to receive in the next couple of weeks!

-Neelanjana

nIlagrIva said...

Thank you for all your comments.

@Anonymous - (who directed me to another review) - Thanks for the other review.

@Anonymous - (who exhorted people to read about Islam from the Quran)
Have you read AvaraNa? If not, I would urge you to do so. After that, we can discuss further. I would like to see what you specifically don't like about the representation of Islam in AvaraNa. Also, Bhyrappa doesn't need any cheap popularity. He is already the best novelist in Kannada by a mile. He is also rich enough to not write books for money.

@Sandhya - Your observation regarding Lakshmi and Katyayani is interesting. But Lakshmi is not orthodox - she just goes back to her roots - the AvaraNa for her is lifted. kAtyAyani in Vamshavruksha suffers a miserable end, because she was unable to break free from her tradition.

@Sindhu - Thanks for defending Bhyrappa, though he really doesn't need it. Thanks for your good words as well.

@neelanjana - Thanks for your kind words. Let's see what you feel after you read AvaraNa.

Anonymous said...

good one!

AvaraNa is really an eye-opener for everyone. It helps youth to look back to the real history, learn from it and try to adapt. Hopefully it happens with all sections of soceity!

Writing in English is good move! as there are not a lot of folks out there to put their views in English effectively.

Thanks

PraaDeepa said...

Pradeep's Comment

Hi,

A nice review on Avarana, good to see your insight into the novel and you have covered all the essence of novel in this review.

No doubt S.L.B is a great writer but the amount of research what he does before writting any novel is amazing. Same thing with respect to Avarana also.

Sukanya said...

Absolutely. I am sure, just like the character Razia, even Bhairappaji must have put years of effort studying those books mentioned in the novel and touring those mentioned parts of india. He makes sure that every word in his novel makes complete sense. Hats Off!!! to S.L.B.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous who said: "But i learnt from islam to respect other religions also." It is a pity that you are a solitary exception and a good number of folks (in the past and the present) have not cared to learn from Islam to respect other religions also, neither in their own places nor in the places they came to "visit". Just as unpleasant aspects of life and history such as untouchability could not be just wished away, the massive destruction, vandalism and pillage of temples in Bharath can not be just brushed away by invoking "secularism". Hats off to the author Shri Bhyrappa for courageously venturing into territories where others fear to tread.

nIlagrIva said...

Thank you for all your comments.

The spectacularly misnamed "Hindu" newspaper has come up with a scathing review of AvaraNa. The stupid reviewer thinks that AvaraNa is just a tirade against Islam and lacks humanism. How is it that I could see the humanism and he could not? In the mahAbhArata, duryodhana could see only bad people in this world. This reviewer and his newspaper remind me of him.

While I agree that AvaraNa is not Bhyrappa's greatest novel, it is not certainly a propaganda piece. Though it has an anti-Islamic undercurrent, the villains in the piece are only the people with the bury-head-in-the-sand mentality.

Anonymous said...

One should not feel hurt by reading AvARANA BY Bhyrappa unless one has certain objections about the truth coming out. In the book itself long list of references are given and as such the incidences quoted in the novel can not be attributed to the author.
To know something about Islam as it is practiced today one is advised to read Arun Shouries Book ' The World of Fathwas'.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic Review.
Thank you.
I am reading the book.
I am a follower of "Distorsion of History" theme.
This book should be read in that context and not "Hindu-Muslim" relations or what happened during muslim rule.
The novel (of what I have read so far) In my opinion, the historical background is only a canvas, is about the current society. The objections of Girish Karnad and URA must be taken as the reaction of tyrants to publication of their behaviour as establishment historians/literary people.
In one of his books "Naaneke bareyuththene", Bhyrappa admits during Emergency, they were government employees and cannot talk against the government unlike K.V.Subbanna who was a plantation owner.
Readers of this book must read:
"Eminent Historians" by Arun Shourie: exposes the myth about "Safronization of education and text books"
"Manufacturing Consent" by Edward S Herman for US residents exposes the myth about the US media having a left-liberal bias. Author convinces the reader that all channels (not just Fox) have a conservative agenda.

Anonymous said...

Nilagriva, do you get an english (preferably) of this novel aVarNa

Das M J said...

your Review is one of the best that i am reading these days on Avarana.

good to see lot of people responding over this review...

Anonymous said...

-----------------------------------
Every Dharma is good and it gives a light to the life( every dharma)
but one who follows the dharma is " WE " the people.

here byrappa has not written against the "dharma" his writing describes the thing done by people!

dharma will always remain as a dharma forever , forever and forever..
the people "we ' spoil , the concepts !!....and do we all follow exact dharma!!!no....
even people follow or not follow , dharma will remain as dharma only

its not the critisism for dharma ..its the critisism of " deeds" ...as per the society if the person who as done the wrong if belongs to some dharma ...why people want to protect him in the name of dharma!!!

- SHRUTHA

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the excellent review, is there any english translation available for this novel ?

Anonymous said...

This novel unveils the truth of exactly who we (Hindus) are and gives a decent picture of what had happened to the Hindus in the period of Moghul rule (considering the author has done lot of his homework). This novel makes you think why this information was denied to us all this time, unless a person decides to do a good round up of history books. This information should have been included in our history books. A strong society is built on truths rather than on false information. The novel in some parts gives insights of how Islam was spread in Hindu predominated old India. This also has put me in doubt that should man protect his god or god protects his children.
And also I kept thinking why we were so easily defeated by outsiders. It really gives me creeps that, do I belong a group of losers. Is it the effect of natural conditions (Extreme heat) which prevail in subcontinent which make us more lethargic and complacent? I know now that I have moved away from the actual subject of discussion of this blog. But these were the questions that have come into my mind and I wanted answers for these.

HOLIDAYMANTRA said...

My views on “Avarana”.

Primary objective of the novel is to get the history right. Which in itself is a task impossible? But we can totally agree about in putting right effort to get it right in the right direction. This in itself is a admirable work by Byarappa. And indeed his work will be appreciated only by a matured mind with openness to all views. If one has any prejudice to any religion or ideology then the objective could be seriously in trouble.

Dr.Shashi Kumar Ph. D.
shashi@holidaymantra.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Nilagriva,
I read this bood very recently - I really liked it for its accuracy and fact based approach rather than for its story telling ability - which is the trademark of SLB's other novels which I've read.

I was just trying to understand the denials which have been coming from a group of indivuals in our society.

The information presented in the novel are actually "matter" taken from other journals/artciles [not navels though] and for THE war-winning party these facts ofcourse would have been matter of great pride during those times.

People of our times look at these facts as raw and barbaric and are not able to digest it for its crude ness - just because the semantics of the society we live today [fortunately so] are different and term these methods as barbaric. But probably they were a necessity during those times for those people with those set of ambitions and goals.

Our inability to digest such facts makes us get into a self-denial mode - this is a infact a good sign atleast we are not glorifying those methods in THESE days - though there is no need to get into such a mode.

Let us accept that there is nothing like universal correct - which continues to remain correct during all times. Correct and wrongs are relative perceptions which do change over time.

Bearing children from a different male - just to ensure they have a legal heir is probably justified during those times and circumstances - and may be termed wrong during our times.

There is a difference between reasoning out a set of tradition and following those set of traditions. Its obvious that debate can be had with those who reason and not just follow.

Yanuly Sanson said...

The delusion lies in believing that our different practices separate us under the eyes of The One. We are flawed, shortsighted, that's is what we should acknoledge and therein find a way across the ilusion and into All.

hari said...

thanx for the nice review

As laxmi fell in love with amir and married in her early age, Shasri's wife did..but her basic ideology about Christianity have not changed and hence she continued to live orthodox...i think this is nt artificial
if Christians talks about Jesus and hindu will buy the photo of Jesus and keep in his pooja room and worship as he worships ganesha or lakshmi etc...
i think this makes Hindu different from any other...respecting good qualities neglecting its source of origin...

Author have clearly mentioned, it is not wise to punish one for the mistake of others... Avarana have disclosed the barbaric ruthless activity of invaders...its not a novel written to denigrate any muslims..why do muslims see those ruthless invaders as Muslims, when these invaders are far away from the Islamic teaching...

No Christian support the massacre done by Hitler, or massacre of red Indians..then why should a Muslim support those ruthless people...

Unknown said...

Is anyone aware whether this book is available in other languages. I have created a group on this book at Shelfari at http://www.shelfari.com/groups/33935/about and I want to give more information to the members about the book especially the non-kannadigas.

A help in this regard is really appreciated.

hari said...

i am just aware of the avarana translated to sanskrit language

Anonymous said...

Nice review.Is this book in Kannada only?Is there a translation available?

Anonymous said...

The book review helped me a lot as I need to gift my Aunt with this book. The Author is only putting forth his novel view point. It is entirely upto the reader's mind to either accept it or reject it. Ultimately truth will triumph!

sridhar Krishna said...

I read book more than Fifteen times. This is not just a noval.Its a real history of what we faced in long back years and also now in some places.Every citizen of India including Muslims also wants to Read this book Compulsory.Pls sir Mr.S.L.Byrappa pls Pls continue this book and give a justice to Laksmi and to her Noval.Sir U stoped the book in very crusial stage when every one wants to get the awerness about the Conversion.
Once Again Pls continue the book and give a right, correct, true Justice for that book.

Yours True student.

Sridhar.K

nairu60 said...

Thats a good review. It has certainly provoked me to read this one. I have read many of the earlier Novels of Bhyrappa.

I think this is somewhat similar to Dharmashree.

Any Bhyrappa's novel is certainly an eye opener in many ways.

Unnikrishnan
UK

Unknown said...

There is no doubt, abrahamic religions like islam, weren't propogated peacefully through the Indian sub-continent during medival period. It is indeed few anonymous people(religious fanatics) who need to understand about the basics of human values & treatment of fellow humans, rather than discriminating them based on religions (which is wholly a personal belief).

SAGAR.S said...

i just read the book today after 2 years of its publish.its really awasome.

Manas said...

Is there an Eng/Hindi/Sanskrit translation of this book?

Unknown said...

Is there any version in hindi or english.????

op said...

Is this book available in English or Hindi? If so kindly let me know the publisher info.

Tahnks in advance.

Indian said...

I just finished reading it. Fantastic, Superb, Thrilling and Disturbing - all at the same time! MUST READ for every one!

Legendary Life said...

Hi, Just finished reading the book [ got it couriered from india] and am so disappointed that it got over in only 2 days!!! As always Byrappa stands a Legend, and proves his profess and knowledge and research over the subject. Hats off to namma Byrappa.
Its even more interesting to read the opinions of various other readers which is by itself a different treat to me. I did find the traces of previous novels in this one but thats an impression we get based on the common themes like a strong character [ usually a lady] a rural background and many other things. Infact to be honest I was happy reading the other books of our Byrappa but while reading aavarana, I got a bit too emotional 3 times and in no second I had tears, donno if its the involvement in the story or the facts that touched my heart[ I wouldnt like to mention what parts as we can know it after reading the novels ourselves]. Word to word and point to point we can see the reality though not how we want to visualise it but in a factual way!
As he stresses over and again his point is not to offend any religion or look down on anyone but to be fair to understand the history we should be aware of the truth! how wonderfulllll!
But I was a bit disappointed with the ending as I felt it was finished abruptly and in rush! there should have been a more relaxed conclusion [ as its only my opinion, as I am in no position to point out at the great personality like Byrappa sir].

waiting to read many other books soon!!

Thanks

Guru

WiKi way said...

Ever tried to Analyze how many muslims would have come to India in the 15th or 16th century?? 100? 1000? 100000?
It only because of the foolish Hindus and the secular which has grown muslims to more than 50 crore (including B'desh and Pakistan)

mukthar mohammad said...

Islam spread because of truth and strict monotheism...it is the most rapidly growing religion in the world..violence is used by every kings not only by Muslims. Even in india vaishnavites massacred shaivites for their political gain...

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I have seen many posts here digging out some historical incident of Hindu religion. Which are painful to remember.
I am no expert. However I got a chance to go through Prophet Mohd's biography. I would like to mention one incident wherein after moving to Madina. Mohammed ordered the execution of an entire Jewish tribe just because they were not ready to accept Islam. Intelligent readers should not bring out these comparison. Every religion goes through a phase where it evolves. It takes time to completely get to the grip of the teachings. There were many things which were not included in Quran and still followed by muslim these days. For eg. Veil, which was a status symbol in early islamic days. Even prophet never mentioned veil in any of his teachings. Still, they are there. Mohammed mentioned two statements in one he mentioned that His Teachings are more important while in the other his bloodline...And great confusion carries till date!!! It will take time to grow. Also, please draw a larger line to make other one shorter. You're not perfect.

Radha Shetty said...

I loved this book too much! Already from beginning I hated Muslims, now SL Bhyrappa has given me license to hate more!

Vaibhav Pujare said...

We want more such literature revealing the atrocities of Islam on non Muslims all over the world.well done bhyrappa sir

S Raghunath said...

Please let me know if english translation is available ? I am very much interested to read after the marvellous review post. As for as comments by some muslim brothers, it is better if they under stand Quron and how it treats the other faiths. It spread by spreading Terror only. The famous Quote of the Prophet Mohummud is " I am made victorious by TERROR" . The Present day AvaraNa is that all our leaders will go on saying that Terrorism has no religion, while the Terrorists them selves say that their religion is Islam-
S. Raghunath

Chethan poojary said...

@Radha Shetty
You said my words

Chethan poojary said...

@mukthar mohammad
Islam spread through only violence, slavery, plunder and rape in the Indian subcontinent. But you can believe whatever you want to ease your conscience.