This storybook for children has been written by a practicing paediatrician, who through this fascinating geo-thriller, explains the phenomenon of tsunamis and how human greed is responsible for arousing the fury of Mother Nature.
Mona receives a phone call from her mother asking her to phone her son and find out if he is alright as he is on a visit to Lakshadweep, which has experienced a tsunami. Mona gets agitated and calls her husband Prof. Sanjoy Sen to find out about her brother. When Prof. Sen returns home, he watches television with his children and gets to know about the tsunami in Lakshadweep.
Meanwhile Mona’s sons and other students are taken by their school on a visit to the National Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences where Prof. Sen works. While going around the institute, Prof. Dinesh, who accompanies the students, explains that earthquakes occur due to movement between earth plates which are constantly on the move. The movements occur mostly along the ‘faults’ and areas along these experience the most severe earthquakes. The children are eager to learn what a tsunami is as they had watched the television programme earlier and where the tsunami has affected Lakshadweep. The professor explains to them that the word tsunami is Japanese in origin where tsu means ‘harbour’ and nami is ‘wave’. A tsunami is caused when a seaquake leads to a sudden displacement of large volumes of water resulting in a series of long wave-length ocean waves. He also says that during a tsunami, the waves have a height of only a few cms., but on reaching the coast, their height reaches many metres.
One day, Prof. Sen’s son Abhishek is prodded by his classmate to find out his father’s password on the computer in which the professor has stored valuable data on his research on tsunamis. Abhishek very smartly extracts the password from his mother Mona as he is desperate to put up a school project in geography, a subject that he hates.
Meanwhile Abhishek and his father go for a walk near a swimming pool when Abhishek jumps into the pool to swim. He even pulls his father into the pool. Prof. Sen, who is a good swimmer otherwise, finds himself drowning as he is not well and his body is stiff.
Prof. Sunjoy Sen, while pursuing his research on how tsunamis are caused, gets kidnapped one day. Abhishek and his friend suspect a student of Prof, Sen called Rama to be responsible for the nefarious act.
This book is not only informative but may be of special interest to young schoolboys and girls who love to read thrillers.
(Imprint, Industry Manor, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai-400025.)
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