Great Indian Novel



This was my first Shashi Tharoor novel and was scared to choose, as it had a complex plot and I didn't know vastly about Mahabharata and Indian political history. I left this behind several times but when I started reading, I fell in love with the way of narration.Three decades of events in one book, with a complex plot, but Shashi Tharoor made it easy to understand and never felt any sort of unrest while reading.


This novel is a mythological retelling from Sasi Tharoor's perspective. He tries to transform Ancient Epic into Modern Politics.The mythical story of India is retold in such a way that the entire novel directs on how India has struggled against colonial rule.After reading this novel, it turns out to be my favourite mythological novel. A single book that entertains and gives us the kind of information we must have.

There is everything a reader needs in the novel, there is patriotism, betrayal, violence, friendship with lots and lots of mockery. There is also an excellent usage of prose alongside which makes it interesting and thoughful to read. The novel has to do more with the generation of Pandu and Bhisma other than Pandu and Duryodhan which is very new and makes the whole process fun! However, that can't be taken easily by few since it potrays leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru ( Dhirdhrastra) and Gandhi in bad light in certain places. Also, i felt there were some romantic (adultery) scenes unnecessarily placed.