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Wednesday 13 September 2017

The Quest of the Sparrows - Book Review


The Quest of the Sparrows has an interesting premise which instantly strikes a chord with the reader. The protagonist crushed under the work pressure and whose marital life is on a toss may appear a reflection of many of us. We then encounter the fundamental question, what is life all about? This leads to a spiritual odyssey. The protagonist Nikhil starts a soul searching journey. When he visits the ashram, he realises that the swami is dead and now he is succeeded by a strapping youth Partibhan. Nikhil has his own reservations about the new Master. Yet he becomes a part of the group lead by Partibhan, which undertakes journey to Ganpatipule on foot. They do not carry a single penny with them and live on alms. In return they agree to do some chores for their benefactor. On this journey they meet people with different temperaments. They touch each other lives and elevate to another plane. Partibhan emerges as a spiritually evolved person in this journey. But there are some who are apprehensive about Partibhan. They believe Partibhan is a charlatan. Again Partibhan has his skeletons of his past buried inside the cupboard. Is Partibhan indeed a charlatan? Are Sanjeev’s apprehensions true? To find an answer to these questions you will have to read the book the Quest of the Sparrows.

When it comes to writing the book is extremely well written. The editing is clean and the pace keeps you hooked to the story. Lines like ‘Being spiritual doesn’t mean one has to be indifferent. Sometimes, controlled anger is necessary to check injustice,’ indeed do offer a new spiritual insight.

But the novel falls off-track with Sanjeev and Partibhan’s past, and our journey to Ganpatipule is abandoned midway. I believe the novel would have been class apart if the authors had chosen to stick to the Ganpatipule foot journey alone. Not doing so makes this novel just an average read.


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