Resurgent Indian Patriots
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Since his Lashkar series, Mukul Deva has been regarded as one of the best in the military fiction genre in India. And now he comes up with RIP – Resurgent Indian Patriots, another thriller about the endless scandals and corruption which has plagued our nation for years on end. Does it work? Let’s check it out.
Abhisar Sharma, a renowned journalist of more than 15 years of experience has worked for various organizations like Aaj Tak and Zee News. The Edge of the Machete is his 2nd book in the trilogy featuring The Eye of the Predator and The Dark Side of Me. To be honest I haven’t read his 1st and 3rd books and just began from this one having heard a lot about it. Is it worth the hype? Let’s check it out.
Sami Ahmad Khan read Literature at Hindu College and Rajdhani College, University of Delhi. He then completed his master’s in English at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Sami was awarded a Fulbright grant at The University of Iowa, USA, in 2011. He has engaged in film production, teaching, theatre and writing. His short stories, plays and articles have been published in magazines and academic journals. His political thriller Red Jihad won the Muse India Young Writer (Runner-Up) Award at the Hyderabad Literary Festival 2013 and “Excellence in Youth Fiction Writing” at the National Debut Youth Fiction Awards at the Young Writers Meet during Delhi World Book Fair 2013.
Currently, Sami is a Doctoral Candidate at JNU, where he is working on Science Fiction and Techno-culture Studies. He is now working on a sequel to Red Jihad.
So we have him here for a tete – a – tete –
Aseem: What is one most important thing / things you have taken back from your days at the Hindu college and JNU?
Sami: Think for yourself, stick to your guns and have an opinion about anything and everything. It’s surprisingly liberating – DU/JNU style!
“Red Jihad” is Sami Ahmad Khan’s first attempt at writing a novel. He has engaged in film production, teaching, theater and writing. His short stories, plays and articles have been published in magazines and academic journals. Does his first novel work? Let’s check it out.
The blurb goes like this –
2014: Pakistan has transitioned into a full – fledged democracy and is reconciling with India. However, there are forces working against this fragile peace. A Pakistani jihadi leader, Yasser Basheer, travels to the Red Corridor and enlists the support of an Indian naxalite commander, Agyaat. Their plan: to unleash Pralay, India’s experimental intercontinental ballistic missile, on the subcontinent.
As the missile changes course en route, it hits Pakistan and causes collateral damage. In response, Pakistan unleashes war on India. As the web of politics, deceit and treachery deepens, it turns out that there are larger interests at stake and bigger players involved in this combat. The battle for South Asia turns murkier as an Indo – Pak war threatens to embroil many other countries in the end game.
Have India and Pakistan sparked off the mother of all wars? A gripping thriller, Red Jihad explores probably the most feared nexus – between the jihadis and the Naxals.
An alumnus of La Martiniere College, Lucknow, the National Defence Academy, Pune and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Mukul Deva was commissioned in December 1981 into the Sikh Light Infantry of the Indian Army. He took early retirement from the army after fifteen years of service, including a decade of combat operations in India and overseas. He is now an entrepreneur and motivational speaker, leadership, business and executive coach, and consultant.
He is the author of ‘Time After Time..It all Happened‘, ‘S.T.R.I.P.T.E.A.S.E: The Art of Corporate Warfare‘, ‘M.O.D.E.L: The Return of the Employee‘, the recently released ‘The Dust Will Never Settle‘ and four bestselling books in the ‘Lashkar series: ‘Lashkar‘, ‘Salim Must Die‘, ‘Blowback‘ and ‘Tanzeem‘.
Aseem: An army man writing books. Now that’s something new at least in India. How has your experience been?
Mukul: Yes I guess it’s how most people perceive army men. And how army men view themselves. Most of the ones I know are very articulate and have great stories to tell. I simply decided to tell them, without thinking too much about it. In any case I have always believed that I can do anything if I wish to do it since it is seldom capability, but belief in our capability that matters. As for the journey – it’s been incredible. And continues to be so… I find I am full of ideas and the words don’t seem to stop flowing… ‘Tis as though of (literary) Viagra I have drunk…:)
Mukul Deva has lived, breathed and slept the ‘Lashkar’ series for the last couple of years. Whether it was ‘Lashkar’, ‘Salim Must Die’, ‘Blowback’ or ‘Tanzeem’, Mukul put his heart and soul into ensuring that these books were loved by his audiences. So what next after this?
‘The Dust Will Never Settle’ is his first book after the Lashkar series ended. In this pacy fusion of fact and fiction, he unravels the private tragedy of the Gill family against the high-stakes backdrop of international politics and deadly intrigue.
The blurb goes like this:
When terror strikes Jerusalem again, the international community persuades the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume their long-stalled peace talks. A dozen negotiators converge on Delhi to try and wrest peace for a land torn apart by centuries of strife and mistrust.
Lashkar-e-Toiba, struggling to fill the leadership void created by the killing of Osama bin Laden, will not allow these talks to proceed. Enter Ruby Gill, an MI6 agent manipulated by the Lashkar and the Qassam Bridgades to disrupt the Summit.
Caught in the crossfire is her father Ravinder Singh Gill, head of the Indian Anti – Terrorist Task Force, who is in charge of securing the Peace Summit. His work is immensely complicated by the Commonwealth Games being hosted simultaneously in Delhi.
Ravinder’s past and Ruby’s destiny are set to collide in unforeseen ways..
Will peace finally find these strife – torn countries? Or will the dust never settle in the Promised Land?
Tanzeem is the fourth and final installment (After Lashkar, Salim Must Die and Blowback) in Mukul Deva’s series of military thrillers. He has written these books at such breakneck speed that he released the 4 books over a span of 4 years from 2008 till 2011. I like many others am in love with his Tom Clancy style writing. And ever since I read Blowback, I was waiting for the day I could lay my hands on Tanzeem.
The book begins where Blowback ends. After the confrontation with the heads of the Indian Mujahideen, Iqbal, the undercover Force-22 operative decides that he needs to go into the heart of Pakistan and take out the killing machines with his own hands. Despite attempts by the top brass to prevent him from taking such a decision, he doesn’t heed their warnings and takes on the arduous journey. The rest of the story deals with how he succeeds in finding and befriending the group of terror masters waiting to unleash a wave of urban global terror. Does he succeed? Is he killed? You got to read it.
“Blowback” is the third in the Lashkar series by Mukul Deva. With his amazingly vivid descriptions of what goes in the mind of a terrorist, to how terrorist attacks are planned to even describing weapons in great detail, Mukul has brought alive the concept of military thrillers in India.
‘Salim Must Die’ is the second book in the Lashkar series by Mukul Deva. If you enjoyed Lashkar, you will love Salim Must Die. If you are craving for the growth of the thriller genre, Salim Must Die is for you. If you want a dose of reality and fiction intertwined, Salim Must Die should be your next read.
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