Jaal (The Kaal Trilogy, #1)

 

Legend has it that the Adi Shakti (Primal Energy) and the Adi Deva (Spirit of the Universe), in the Dance of Creation, bore the celestial quartet called The Chaturaanan. Each was entrusted with a divine task and they worked in relative harmony for many eons. But one day, at the beginning of the fourth Sandhyakaal of the current Manvantar ; the third sibling, the devious Maya (also going by the name, Aushij, the God of delusion, went rogue. In the true tradition of ego-maniacal deviants, he believed that Maya alone was needed for moulding the universe.

His understandably ticked-off kin, at the behest of their mother, tried to bring their errant brother under control. What ensued was a battle that almost destroyed the universe. But truth prevailed (at least momentarily) and Aushij was vanquished. Mocking his core power, the good guys imprisoned him in a prison of dreams, amidst endless delusions, hallucinations and nightmares.

But the three vanquishers knew that their infinitely brilliant brother would not stay in his formless prison forever. One day, he would rise, in all his fulminating glory. And so they planted an antidote...a seed of an idea....a super-being who would come into existence for the singular purpose of battling Maya. Centuries of trial and error passed and finally The Devnaampriya (Beloved of the Gods) came into existence.

He took the form of a humble, austere-faced young man with grey eyes called Arihant. Jaal (The Kaal Trilogy #1) is the story of how a young lad comes to terms with his terrifying purpose in life. It is the tale of Arihant’s growth : mental, physical, spiritual and transcendental. It is the first peek into the life of a teenager who morphs into a potentially deadly weapon of destruction 
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Kudos to perseverance. My perseverance, that is. If, after the first twenty-odd pages, I would have thrown my hands up in the time-honoured gesture of exasperation (and believe me, you would be tempted too)....I would have missed out on an engaging story.
 Q: Why did I have the gnawing need to abandon this book as soon as I had started it?
 A: Adjectives. A whole Mothership of adjectives littering each and every page. If I had to wade through one more paragraph of limpid streams and soot-grey wings and sandal scented baths and obsidian like torsos and venomous green lights...I would have gnashed my teeth and relegated the book to the back of my ‘abandoned-halfway-in-sheer-frustration’ shelf.

But ah, perseverance....I salute thee. Thanks to your insistent nudge, I carried on. And shining in a mire of adjectives was an almost perfect tale.

Who doesn’t like a “Chosen One”?
Who doesn’t rub their hands with glee at the prospect of a tempestuous villain hovering malevolently in the background?
Who doesn’t root for a stellar cast, especially when it includes an exiled warrior queen, a crown prince plunged into an unexpected adventure, a quick witted posse of sidekicks, a bantering mentor, an ancient being with a bruised past and the quintessential good sibling gone bad?

I, for one, am a sucker for such stories. And yes, the Potter plotline shimmers along the edges.

Arihant, the Chosen One, the Devnaampriya is a beautifully etched character (sometimes painfully so). A slender youth who has had a domesticated upbringing, wonders how he can suddenly fight mystical creatures with all the goriness of a hell-fiend. He is terrified of the evil subconscious voice that eggs him on and scares him in equal measures.

And then, when his true ‘education’ begins, he is truly radiant. Arihant is humble, a tad cocky and blessed with infinitely bad-a**, matrix inspired fight moves. He’s a hero to watch out for. The sub-plots tend be a tad confusing but are rife with political drama and deceit. When you get your mental faculties around the smatterings of flowery language and the unfamiliar names and the Tolkeinesque inspired worlds, you are sufficiently enthralled.

The book has some shining moments in it’s originality. Case in Point, the tale of ‘The Vakrini’ and her mind-created, suspended-among- dimensions city : Surangini. That particular section of the book was a superior bit of story-telling by the author and wall-papers over the foible of unnecessary prose that had you climbing up the walls.

Alternative realities....finely shaded characters....beautiful melded weapons....prophecies and their purveyors.......danger at every crossroad....a more than healthy splashing of the spiritual...flutterings of future romances.....a nemesis who sounds deliciously scary....awe-inspiring fight sequences....and a worthy champion at it’s helm.


Jaal (The Kaal Trilogy #1) is a beautiful tale. As I started the book I was wary of it’s promise. As I ended the book, I am replete. And momentarily suspended in that other-worldly atmosphere which only a well-orchestrated book brings about. And also proud, that an Indian author has taken a well-researched leap into the world of relatable fantasy. By all accounts, a book worth picking up.