Skip to main content

Book Review: Shalom Namaste by Nurani S Ravi

Shalom Namaste by Nurani S. Ravi is an interesting novel that takes stance on social and economic offenders of India that have fled the country to avoid persecution. The novel is slightly a political thriller with some other auxiliary themes such as adventure, espionage, drama, nationalism, etc.


It is a novel that has, in particular, no fixed lead character. It is rather based on circumstances. To understand the novel, the readers should be aware of political situation of India and its stance on fugitives who left the country by taking huge loans from banks. However, the novel is not all about bad bank loans, it also deals with some other offenders as well.

PMO, NSA, CIS, CSS – all prepare a list of 50 offenders – who have dented the reputation of the country by some or other way. They need to be traced and if possible wanted back in India. But that’s not possible. Thus, higher officials pick up 5 people who have some serious charges against them such as fraudulent activities with gold and diamond market, banks, involvement in terrorism and murder. The novel first introduces all major five stories that in the later part will be rounded up. So, from one angle, the story becomes clear with its objectives.

For each story, there is some file name. For instance, Housing scam related to some real-estate business people, they fled the country with huge bad loans, because after demonetization their business failed miserably. Then there is Gold Fever – they run away to UAE after bamboozling bank lockers filled with gold. Likewise there is a story of Ibrahim, he was involved in terrorism.  Then there is Nirmal Zaveri – the diamond tycoon. All the cases may remind some or other figures from India. Rest of the novel is about getting them back.

PMO with the help of NSA Vasu and CSS Menon begins the operation Shalom Namaste. They secretly join hands with Mossad of Israel. The story chugs ahead comfortably with sweeps and back stories from India and Israel. Despite a long cast of characters, there is clarity of thoughts and action in the book. It doesn’t confuse people. The book is written in the interest of nation.

It is entertaining yet dramatic to note their planning and execution. The team works like professional detectives. To some extent, the novel drives the suspense element but after some time it loses its sheen because trapping all fugitives at one time looked similar. However, despite some pitfalls, the novel does justice to its genre. Why the operation is coded as Shalom Namaste? What does this jargon indicate? Will there be bloodshed or the plan will be spoilt to capture these people? Inquisitive for all answers – you must pick up this novel.

Stretching up to 187 pages, it is a light read with some amazing story inside. This time, N. S. Ravi’s narration is not only captivating but lucid as well. Many might not believe that such a serious novel is penned down so seamlessly. A highly recommended novel on fugitives, nationalism, politics and much more.

Buy your copy from Amazon/Kindle.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poem Summary: Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Short Summary: This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should
67 comments
Read more

Book Review: The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Among all Ruskin Bond books, The Blue Umbrella has, so far, gathered immense applaud from readers and critics alike.  This is a short novel, but the kind of moral lessons it teaches to us are simply overwhelming. This is a story of Binya, a poor little girl living with her mother and an elder brother, Bijju, in a small hilly village of Garhwal. One day while herding her two cows back home, she stumbles upon some city people enjoying the picnic in the valley. She is enthralled to see them well-groomed and rich. She craves to be one like them and among many other things of their, a blue frilly umbrella catches her attention. She begins craving for it. On the other hand, the city people get attracted by her innocent beauty and the pendant in her neck. The pendant consists of leopard’s claw – which is considered a mascot widely in the hills. Binya trades her pendant off with the blue umbrella. The blue umbrella is so much beautiful that soon it becomes a topic of conversation fo
63 comments
Read more

Poem Summary: Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias is a short poem of fourteen lines written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The concurrent theme of the poem is that nothing remains intact and same forever in this world. Even the brightest of metal, one day decays with passage of time. The throne name of Egyptian King Ramesses is Ozymandias. It was his dearest desire to preserve himself forever by building a huge statue that he thought would never tumble down. Stanza 1: I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; Summary: The poet narrates the poem through the eyes of a traveler who seems to have come back from a remote and far-away land, referring to Egypt. The traveler r
23 comments
Read more