Ansh Raj
Ansh Raj
ASTRA: THE QUEST FOR STARSONG by Aditya Mukherjee Penguin/ Random House India, 2019, 256 pp., 250
November 2019, volume 43, No 11

Among the many firsts of childhood, Ramayana is probably the first exposure to the world of mythological adventure. For many, the mention of Rama has always evoked memories of the cheeky but loyal Hanuman as he burnt the whole of Lanka with his tail, or the Banyan tree that sprouted from Ravana’s corpse and also implanted in the minds of many the first-learnt childhood moral of the victory of good over evil. Therefore, when equally exciting characters with even more exciting powers drive a story set against the backdrop of the Ramayana epic, adolescent readers are bound to be enthralled.

The book under review traces the journey of Varkan, the brave young prince of Ashmaka, as he adventures through the kingdoms of Bharatvarsha to answer to his fate. He is accompanied in this enterprise by the magic-wielding gypsy duo of Draksh and Tara, as well as his own midget and lovable elephant Daboo. As they together traverse the beautiful and diverse landscape of ancient India, they are encountered by Rakshasha, falcons, Yaksha, and kings and queens—characters who have been drawn from mythology, but been painted in this book in more contemporary colours to relate with the modern audience. And while these fantastic characters play an important role in the progression of the story, it is really the astra, or the weapons, in which the pivot of the story lies. As the plot moves forward, it is the threatening and ever-growing presence of Varkan’s own weapon, the titular Starsong, that throws the world in mayhem, and causes destruction. Among other things, the theme the astra most vividly brings about is the dangers of absolute power. This theme of power, in turn, is complemented by the concept of ‘balance’, whose reiteration across the story is able to posit a robust explanation for the world of the supernatural. The supernatural, by its virtue, would create disbalance in the world of the ordinary. Thus, in the case where the supernatural exists in a ‘balanced’ world, the supernatural’s presence could be justified.

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