Book Reviews by Manju Gupta Enough of life

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Pawan grows up into of 20-year-old boy who as a child of four, asks his mother, ?Maa, I can'tsee God anywhere!? He gets a reply which far from satisfies him or his curiosity.

One day he goes to a shop and on reaching inside and seeing a portrait of Guru Gobind Singh behind the cash counter, he begins to touch the portrait'sface, eyes, hands and begins to talk to it. Suddenly two masked men enter the shop and shoot down the owner, before escaping. Pawan is questioned by the police, but he is not even aware of what has happened exactly. After some time, the police search party finds the salesperson who confesses to his crime. The salesperson'sfather had taken a loan from the shop-owner, mortgaged his house and died before paying off the loan. The son starts working in the shop to pay off the loan.

Pawan returns home but keeps debating in his mind if the salesperson had been right in killing to avenge his father who had taken the loan that he could not repay or was the shopkeeper, who was murdered, was right? His question is, ?And why didn'tGod step in to save at least one of them??? one from death and the other from prison.

Sheer absence of God and free will, coupled with the hypocrisy of human civilisation in an utmost insane way prove to be a major catalyst in kicking off an ultimate journey by Pawan? a journey that meticulously reveals the mysterious side of human beings and of God at the same time.

Pawan'sfather tells the story of his friend Ranjit who is in love with a corrupt politician'sdaughter. The politician threatens him with dire consequences and Ranjit'sfather tries to persuade him to end the relationship because he fears for his son'slife. One evening Ranjit is kidnapped and three days later his body is found near the railway track. The politician is questioned and it is found that the politician'sson and friends are behind the crime, but the police are unable to do anything due to pressure from the politician as he has ?bought the police officers and three witnesses and it was proved that he was innocent.? The girl Ranjit loves, later commits suicide.

Pawan'sfather tells him, ?The rich and powerful are God and nobody can touch them.? Pawan is disappointed to find that his father had done nothing about it.

One day Pawan goes to the library to read books and there he feels he hears a voice calling out to him. Now begins his search for God and he meets a mysterious sage Satyakaam, who belongs to an even more mysterious order of sadhus which had been in existence some 2,500 years ago since the time of Lord Buddha. They were the sages who did not believe in God in the form in which humankind does. Together with Satyakaam as his mentor, Pawan begins his journey in search of God. He finds that something had been waiting for him for the last 2,500 years and the world is about to experience something never heard of before?

In this novel the author is out to prove that there is no such thing as God ? all that there exists is the mysterious creation of human beings and of God.

(Rupa & Co., 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110 002.)

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