"When
Arya Fell Through The Fault"
Author:
Reenita Malhotra Hora
“I
was cocooned in her warmth, sobbing tears of relief and excitement as
she gently rocked me in the morning breeze” – My favorite lines
from the book.
A
great attempt by the author to remind our current generation of the
values laid by our ancestors. With an amazing cover page of the
little boy with a book in his hand, Lord Rama and the demon king
Ravana tingles curiosity in the readers.
Comparison
between the good and evil of modern day and linking it back to the
Indian epic Ramayana through a 12 year old boy is an amazing thing.
The language is simple, yet leaves a great impact since the
protagonist is a little boy as it creates a nostalgia to the readers.
The
whole book revolves around a little boy Arya, who lives in San
Fransisco, with his parents. His mum who is a Ayurvedic practitioner
and his dad a cab driver Arya loves listening to the chapters of
Ramayana narrated by his mother but is a slave of evil deeds. The
author, being an Ayurvedic practitioner has very cleverly en cashed
her skills in describing the aroma of Ayurveda oils and the food
Arya's mother makes for him. The whole story takes an amazing twist
when Arya's mother meets with an accident and goes into a vegetative
state.
Linking
of the characters Arya comes across in his life to Ravana – the ten
headed demon king and the main reason for letting evil rule him is
the best part of the book. The beautiful way of describing the
Medicine Woman and comparing her to Arya's mother will keep the
readers interest alive. The way of introducing and comparing the
Vanara characters to the epic Ramayana and school janitor Niklas to
Vishwamitra has been carried out really well.
The
technique of author bringing in the age old concept of Ayurveda and
understanding our true self is really commendable. The entire book
revolves around the victory of good over evil and the simplest way to
distinguish between the two is by our actions. The concept of
reaction, deciding under haste and letting the situations take
control over ourselves leads to mishap is what the entire book speaks
about.
However,
the initial chapters of the book is a little dragging where Arya's
mom constantly pacifies him for his behavior, Athena and “The Boys”
group taking Arya for a ride and Arya's reaction to every small thing
is quite repetitive. As Arya lands in the Woods, the scenes speaking
about Guruji and his color changing eyes is also quite repetitive.
The school principal's character was of no significance at all.
Overall,
the book gives us a broad perspective of an easy understanding
between good and evil and the interpersonal conflicts each one of us
encounter in our real lives through a lovely family of Arya, Ma and
Pa. The book brings us tears when Arya finally evolves as a matured
soul and decides to take his dad through the journey of Ramayana as
his mother once did to him.
Once
upon a Sunny Morning in the forests of ancient India…
