Maya: Lifting
the Veil by Amar Singh is a spiritually uplifting fictional book in the tough
time of corona virus pandemic. The novel is a work of fiction, particularly
based on two aspects – plight of a migrant labourer Arjun Pandit and appearance
of the God to answer his confounding questions. The semblance of the book is
hypothetical.
First two
chapters ‘Exodus and Kurukshetra’ are pertaining to the current situation where
millions of migrant labourers stranded across the country fending for
themselves and are totally immobile. They urge and long to go back to their
hometowns and native villages. Since it’s a total lockdown with no transport
facility, many migrants from across the country have had taken up the roads to
reach their destinations. From the same milling crowd, Amar Singh picks up
Arjun Pandit – a poor and simple migrant labourer. The story is built around
him and the God he finds.
He is walking
home with his family. As they reach Kurukshetra, his four-year-old son dies due
to hunger and high fever, media tries to cash on the opportunity, and the
health department frowns. The son is lost. Father Arjun is devastated with
grief. He blames the god for his suffering and misfortune. He sits under an oak
tree…he curses god, doubts his veracity of actions,…you will get to know when
you delve deep into the chapter called – Why Me, God!
Likewise,
there are total eight chapters, the book is written in verses – mainly
dialogues between the God and Arjun Pandit. The author has deliberately chosen Kurukshetra
as a prominent backdrop of the story for religious and mythological reasons.
Thousands of years ago when the great war of Mahabharata was taking place, even
that time one Arjun had some doubts and fears, taking that as reference once
again the god takes charge to make someone understand the rules of Maya and
this world.
Laced with
relevance, this book is an amazing experience to read slowly with no haste. The
book covers the aspect of faith of people during the time of adversity i.e. how
do people see god in their bad time, why do they forget their share of
wrongdoings. Even today the book’s main concern is to show the power of faith in
the God in the time of Covid 19.
The content of
the book is relevant and easy to understand, even though written in verses. In
fact, god also takes his stance and try to make him understand as why people on
earth suffer – the god takes up various instances and references from that era
of Mahabharata to simplify the cause and effect concept, collective destiny of
human beings and much more.
This is not
first time when Amar Singh has come up with a thought-provoking book, his last
book ‘The Third’ was also a sort of spiritual uplifter. Short and crisp, Maya
is a great book to savour to understand god and his justice for collective
humankind.
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