BOOK  REVIEW

Nothing is Blue 5. Things are not the same when he returns: something terrible has happened to the girl; religion and politics are about to G K Ananthasuresh change forever.

Does it sound like Chetan Bhagat’s college

Nothing is Blue story? Perhaps it does. But Nothing is Blue Biman Nath takes us back to the 7th century. The univer- Harper Collins, New Delhi sity is Nalanda. The principal is Shilabhadra. Price: Rs.295/-, pp.242, 2009. The foreign visitor is Xuanzang from China. The tutor is Brahmagupta, who has just in- vented shunya, i.e., zero. It is the time when emperor Harsha ruled a good part of India but there are signs of political unrest not too far Biman Nath’s captivating, carefully-crafted away. Buddhism is on the verge of a major work of fiction Nothing is Blue may be slyly change. With all these ingredients, the author summarized as follows in five Tweets (not weaves a great story with science, sentiment exceeding 140 characters including spaces) to and suspense. It is a work of historical fiction evoke interest in the modern reader with a that engages the reader from the first page to short attention-span in this Internet age. the last while bringing to the fore the glory of 1. A boy in his late teens enrols in the India’s past and the tumultuous time that country’s premier university; struggles to changed it all. overcome homesickness and to pursue his The prologue of the book captures its spirit as passion –maths. Xuanzang in Chang’An, China, in 654 CE 2. His mysterious roommate and a new maths recalls what had happened 25 years ago dur- concept intrigue him equally. Meanwhile, ing his visit to India. He regrets the loss of a the principal asks him to look after a for- horse-load of manuscripts when he was cross- eign visitor. ing the river Sindhu during his journey back to China. He writes a letter to Mahabodhi 3. Amidst his studies and work in the library, monastery for a copy of those books. But he he finds time to get to know a girl. He goes knows that one book was lost forever – the on a tour of the country with the foreigner. book that could have corrected the calendars 4. Strange encounters abound in his tour. He that are going out of sync with seasons. Thus, learns the new maths from a tutor; gets the author sets the stage for the central theme hold of an old book written by a heretic of the book that intertwines the lives of many lady scholar. characters in the book with the astronomy and mathematics of that period.

356 RESONANCE  April 2011 BOOK  REVIEW

The story begins as a flashback when Ananda, face of Buddhism. Shyamalata’s character is the protagonist of the book joined Nalanda as shrouded in mystery as the secrets get spilled a samanera, a novice monk. The descriptions ounce by ounce as the book progresses. The of this great university are vivid. They help readers will feel empathy for the characters, the reader imagine the austerity and scholar- especially for Ananda when he goes through a ship that were characteristic of Nalanda. The chilling experience on a fateful night that is a daily routine and the state of mind of the turning point to the suspenseful story. students of that time do not appear to be much The travels of Xuanzang and Ananda to the different from those of the students today. southern part, all the way to Kancheepuram, They had electives to choose from. Ananda then up north to Ujjayini, and then back to chooses mathematics while his roommate, Nalanda are filled with events that thicken the Kushala, focuses on herbal medicine. Kushala main plot. Ananda’s meeting with has a secret side that he hides as much as he Brahmagupta in Ujjayini is an intellectual discloses to Ananda. In his lectures on math- delight for the mathematics aficionados. The ematics, Ananda is also intrigued by the de- discussions there range from the theories of bates about shunyata, the concept of zero. He Yavans, the Greeks, and those of past Indian is also haunted by his grandmother’s stories, astronomers and mathematicians. While in especially that of Khona, a legendary lady Ujjayini, Ananda has a chance encounter with astronomer who was cruelly punished by her a courtesan from whom he obtains a manu- father-in-law, Varahamihira, an accomplished script of Khona. A cryptic verse from that astronomer/astrologer himself. Amidst all manuscript adds further intrigue to the reader this confusion, Ananda and Kushala are asked as much as it does to Ananda who is trying to by the pradhana, the principal, Shilabhadra to put it all together: the mysteries of astronomy, look after the needs of the Chinese visitor Kushala, Shyamalata, and strange practices Xuanzang. Ananda also meets Shyamalata, a of some Buddhist monks. young widow who like Ananda hails from the north-eastern part of India. It begins where it ends, And in the sky it does dance. The narration of events of the book is so They’d say it’s incredible, – engaging that the characters come alive. But it once began with the Couple. Ananda is shown to be a sensitive person with a passion for learning mathematics despite Xuanzang, the silent observer of the events, the distractions. Kushala, the confident stu- seems to understand all that is happening dent and a close friend of Ananda, is involved around him. When he and Ananda return to with a sector of monks who practice tantric Nalanda, they find that things have become rituals. Xuanzang is portrayed as a gentle worse: two deaths, disappearance of one per- scholar with a great concern for the changing son, and turmoil in the political situation near

RESONANCE  April 2011 357 BOOK  REVIEW and far from Nalanda. Xuanzang too is shaken The young and the old can equally enjoy this one night by a bad dream in which he sees lucidly written scholarly book that seamlessly raging fire on the horizon and cattle inside blends history and fiction. A list of books that Nalanda’s viharas. An eclipse helps clear the the author had consulted is given at the end in astronomical puzzle. The readers understand the Acknowledgments section for the conve- the aforementioned verse of Khona as does nience of learned readers who want to know Ananda. The title of the book evokes some- more. The book educates and entertains the thing profound at this stage in the book. readers. In the end, one is taken into a con- Ananda and Xuanzang set out to visit Harsha, templative mood. Many a reader may find it the emperor who invited Xuanzang to his difficult to resist the temptation of reading it capital. The climax of the book takes place again and again to appreciate its multiple there when a tragedy strikes. layers. Some, like this reviewer, may even fancy a time-travel to the 7th century to expe- The story traverses a full circle in the epi- rience firsthand the greatness of Nalanda of logue. In the mind of Xuanzang, Harsha’s that time. sister Rajyashri finds a parallel in a teacher of the Crown Prince in China. A Chinese Pa- goda in the slowly clearing mist seems like the Vanahamsa stupa in India. This is a book G K Ananthasuresh Department of Mechanical Engineering about the ancient world – a world that was not Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, much different from today’s but yet subtly India. Email: [email protected] different.

358 RESONANCE  April 2011