Book Review by LITEROMA PUBLISHING SERVICES :: ‘Harappa - 1: Lure of Soma’ by Dr. Shankar N Kashyap (1st Review)
** Thanks to the author for gifting us a review copy of the book. **
** Thanks to our reviewer Sayan Basak for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. **
Indus Valley Civilization (also called IVC) was the Bronze Age Civilization which existed between 3300-1300 BC while it enjoyed the matured period between 2600-1900 BC. The author from Upashantha perspective proves a very beautiful fact that Fiction is written with reality and reality is written with fiction. We can write fiction because there is reality and we can write reality because there is fiction; everything we consider today to be myth and legend, our ancestors believed to be history and everything in our history includes myths and legends. Before the splendid modern-day mind was formed our cultures and civilizations were conceived in the wombs of, and born of, what we identify today as "fiction, unreality, myth, legend, fantasy, folklore, imaginations, fabrications and tall tales." And in our suddenly realized glory of all our modern-day "advancements" we somehow fail to ask ourselves the question "Who designated myths and legends as unreality? " But I ask myself this question because who decided that he was spectacular enough to stand up and say to our ancestors "You were all stupid and disillusioned and imagining things" and then why did we all decide to believe this person? There are many realities not just one. There is a truth that goes far beyond what we are told today to believe in. And we find that truth when we are brave enough to break away from what keeps everybody else feeling comfortable. Your reality is what you believe in. And nobody should be able to tell you to believe otherwise.
Also loved the idea of faith that was illustrated through the pages of the book, as if Faith is a beautiful thing. When you believe in an image; an ideal; a supreme being or figure and you stand in the sunshine and you feel the warmth as it spreads through your body. And with that warmth comes a smile and a knowing that you were right to believe in the first place.
That is what having faith is. It’s regardless of which religion you belong to, because faith is universal. That is why it is magical and the sooner we put away our differences and start to believe in each other than that is when we truly start to use faith as it was intended to be used.
And finally something which struck me was the idea of magic. Correlating it to the present day, I feel Humanity does not suffer from the disease of wrong beliefs but humanity suffers from the contagious nature of the lack of belief. If you have no magic with you it is not because magic does not exist but it is because you do not believe in it. Even if the sun shines brightly upon your skin every day, if you do not believe in the sunlight, the sunlight for you does not exist. The book is a very innovative attempt from the author. Kudos to Dr. Shankar Kashyap
Overall, Literoma finds it a power pack read which provides the readers with a lot of historic, Vedic and mythological information. We rate it to be a 4.7*/5* and recommend for a focused reading who love to know ancient history and Vedic literature. Literoma will look forward to see the author exploring this genre further.
** Thanks to our reviewer Sayan Basak for reviewing the book on behalf of Literoma. **
Indus Valley Civilization (also called IVC) was the Bronze Age Civilization which existed between 3300-1300 BC while it enjoyed the matured period between 2600-1900 BC. The author from Upashantha perspective proves a very beautiful fact that Fiction is written with reality and reality is written with fiction. We can write fiction because there is reality and we can write reality because there is fiction; everything we consider today to be myth and legend, our ancestors believed to be history and everything in our history includes myths and legends. Before the splendid modern-day mind was formed our cultures and civilizations were conceived in the wombs of, and born of, what we identify today as "fiction, unreality, myth, legend, fantasy, folklore, imaginations, fabrications and tall tales." And in our suddenly realized glory of all our modern-day "advancements" we somehow fail to ask ourselves the question "Who designated myths and legends as unreality? " But I ask myself this question because who decided that he was spectacular enough to stand up and say to our ancestors "You were all stupid and disillusioned and imagining things" and then why did we all decide to believe this person? There are many realities not just one. There is a truth that goes far beyond what we are told today to believe in. And we find that truth when we are brave enough to break away from what keeps everybody else feeling comfortable. Your reality is what you believe in. And nobody should be able to tell you to believe otherwise.
Also loved the idea of faith that was illustrated through the pages of the book, as if Faith is a beautiful thing. When you believe in an image; an ideal; a supreme being or figure and you stand in the sunshine and you feel the warmth as it spreads through your body. And with that warmth comes a smile and a knowing that you were right to believe in the first place.
That is what having faith is. It’s regardless of which religion you belong to, because faith is universal. That is why it is magical and the sooner we put away our differences and start to believe in each other than that is when we truly start to use faith as it was intended to be used.
And finally something which struck me was the idea of magic. Correlating it to the present day, I feel Humanity does not suffer from the disease of wrong beliefs but humanity suffers from the contagious nature of the lack of belief. If you have no magic with you it is not because magic does not exist but it is because you do not believe in it. Even if the sun shines brightly upon your skin every day, if you do not believe in the sunlight, the sunlight for you does not exist. The book is a very innovative attempt from the author. Kudos to Dr. Shankar Kashyap
Overall, Literoma finds it a power pack read which provides the readers with a lot of historic, Vedic and mythological information. We rate it to be a 4.7*/5* and recommend for a focused reading who love to know ancient history and Vedic literature. Literoma will look forward to see the author exploring this genre further.
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