Krishna Udayasankar’s ‘3’
is firstly a short book, compared to her earlier ones. But its subject is different and the hero is only one! And absolutely no heroines!! Okay, there are a
few but nobody, as we are used to.
It is the early 13th
century, which is comparatively closer to us. It talks of the Srivijaya Empire,
a maritime force with a crown, which has been left pointless.
Emperor Prabhu
Dharmasena, a sailor king is now homeless and he has no choice but to travel
among the seas. He has to leave the island, which was his home for many years.
He
is accompanied by his kith and kin and the crew of his once powerful force. His
last seat of power at Palembang is given up to the Cinas. He tried to make it work;
giving up his daughters in marriage to the Emperor and the Ambassador of Cina,
but it was without much use.
He takes to the seas
and is followed by both his sons. One of these is Mutthiah, his eldest and bringing
up the end is his youngest son, Nila Utama. As time passes, you wish for the
book, to pick up pace too, but it does not read like the older ones and I kind
of missed that. I finished it in one day!
The emperor manages to find
a place for Muttiah to rule, as he marries him off to the daughter of the king
of Tojungpura. Meanwhile, Dharmasena has to take to the seas again, with his wife
and his youngest son, Nila Utama.
Nila Utama, who never
wants to be king, is happier looking to the seas until he meets the princess of
Bintan, Sri Vani. He falls in love with and marries but he never looks like
he would ever rule a land.
Eventually, the brave
and tough Nila finds himself in Tumasik, a land which is supposedly occupied by
pirates. It is up to Nila to take over this land, and take on the charge of
this region.
Just a note: The
English name, Singapore is derived from the Malay Singapura, meaning lion city.
Sang Nila Utama, who is the original founder of Singapore, probably saw a
Malayan tiger, giving the nation, its name.
But kudos to Udayasankar,
for giving the high seas and the voyages undertaken, a plausible account. Of course
you have to enjoy them, but once you reach the point of doing so, there will be
a shift in the story. Also, missed the fact that
Drauapdi had more of the zeal, which Sri Vani's character was just about missing.
‘3’ is a kind of a nice
story, but I wish Udayasankar had made it cooler! There are times, when I had
wished for a little more with the same touch of adventure and mystery, as she
did with her lyrical prose in the Aryavarta series. Of course, the prose is brilliant and there are no points taken from that part.
ISBN: 9789351950103
Publisher: Hachette India
Price: Rs 499/-
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