H.G. Wells called Asoka the greatest king in history; he did not mention that Asoka is a puzzle: a monster, a saint, orthodox and radical by turn. He killed like Genghis Khan, and yet, became the St. Paul of Buddhism. He blindly followed his fundamentalist religion, but left it because it oppressed the masses. An imperious king, he provided equality, social justice to his people and promoted religious tolerance. Above all, he provided free healthcare. He was the first to build beautiful monuments in India. Who was this man? Was he a Tristan in love--a doomed romantic lover? An artist in search of self-expression? Was he looking for meaning in chaos? This is the first fictional biography of this enigmatic figure. The story zigzags like the man. Asoka is an underdog--fourth in line of succession. At eleven, he runs into cannibals and escapes getting cooked. His grandfather's widow, Livia, a Persian princess, poisons Asoka's mother and adopts him –she aspires to be Queen Mother. At seventeen, he is found making love in a temple room to a flower girl--oblivious of the bodies outside swaying to holy chants. When charged with rape, he runs away to Taxila (modern Peshawar in Pakistan) to study religion--the source of political power then. And now! When Taxila Administrator leads a secessionist movement, he mercilessly puts down the uprising and becomes governor. He now falls in love with the young and beautiful Anga, but she has an Egyptian soldier on her mind. The king dies. Gambling his life, he enters the palace at night, kills his brothers in a bid to seize the throne. The crown prince escapes; Asoka faces a civil war. It takes him three years to turn things around. He turns to Anga--she is still not ready for him. With his persistence he wins Anga at last. For a brief period he finds connubial bliss, she is a loving and passionate woman. Then his demon rises, he hankers to win a great war to please the gods. He marches to Kalinga (modern Orissa) accompanied by Anga. On the battlefield, 400,000 men are slaughtered. Immortality is at hand. Ironically, his life begins to fall apart after the war. Anga is devastated by the carnage. Asoka wants his happiness back. What happens to him and Anga, is the story of every soldier disfigured—bodily or mentally--by war. But Asoka was a powerful king. What happened to him changed the history of India, and the history of world religions. After the fashion of Robert Graves’ I, Claudius, Asoka is also the story of the first empire of India—the Maurya Dynasty. Asoka is laden with political intrigue, family strife, conspiracies, murders, war, moral turpitude, and tribal rituals. In the end, it is a story of love, war, loss, and memory. Written to engage, educate and entertain, 'Asoka' seeks to introduce a generation of readers to a hidden chapter of history and the life of a man far ahead of his time. Published in India in May 2010, Asoka has been enthusiastically received. The Asian Age (published from London and major cities in India) called it "a magical story of love;" the prestigious Hindu Literary Review described it as “a rollicking roller-coaster of a book that thrills, touches our emotions…and enchants with its descriptions." Readers too, both in the U.S. and India have warmly responded: "A fascinating book", "a gem" etc. See more on the back cover.
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