Book Review: The Tantric Curse by Anupama Garg

I have time and again confessed my undying fascination towards mythology. Throw me anything myth, be it Hindu, Arab, Greek, Roman, Egyptian or Norse, I am in for all. But when it comes to real facts, the boundary of my knowledge is as limited as the number of rhinos in the world. That is why, when took the book The Tantric Curse for review, I was little wary. What it would be like to read, what issues the book will deal and how much do I want to know about tantra. For the readers, who doesn’t know about Tantra, let me tell you what it is. According to Wikipedia, Tantra (Tantrism) or Tantrabidya is an ancient Indian  tradition of beliefs and meditation and ritual practices that seeks to channel the divine energy of macrocosm or godhead into the human macrocosm, to attain siddhis and moksha.

Though I was born in the Land of Kamakhya, the Goddess of Tantrism, I know a little about this practice. My knowledge was confined to what the Indian Television showed and to what I have read about it in Assamese books. But Anupama Garg has played her card well with this book. With just the title, she managed to pull the reader to take a look in the book. And mind you, you read just one paragraph, and you will not be able to put it down. That was the charm and power of The Tantric Curse over the readers.

But if you are going to prejudge it as a book which dealt with the Tantrism, the author can prove you wrong at the very first chapter. The book is a love story, a purest of the pure love story.  It is the story of a simple girl who managed to turn herself divine with her unprecedented love. It is the story of a girl who with utmost faith and devotion put an end to age long liabilities. So, let’s discuss what I love and did not love about the book.

Things that I loved about the book

The first thing that I love about the book is its story. The story is very simple and believable. It is the story of Rhea and Krish as they took the steps in the practical world and spiritual world hand by hand. It is the story of their love, devotion and faith to each other. It is the story of a sadhak who devoted his world life for goodness and did not hesitate to sacrifice his longing for his son in order to save the girl he took in as his own. It is also the story of Neel who dealt bravely with the problems of his life and won. It is also the story of every human being who has achieved great heights with believe on God and himself.

I loved each and every character of the book. They were well written and each one was craved with much importance from the author. You will not find any character who is unbelievable in the book. The author has crafted each character in such a way that you laugh with them, you cry with them and you feel content with them.

The blending of religious facts with the fiction is so smooth that you don’t feel that you are reading something which is being practiced by sadhaks. Rather, they gave the story a beauty of its own. They give you mental food to devour, chew and digest.

Most beautiful thing about the book is its language. The language is very simple and the flow in the novel was like a breeze. Editing part is also very good and there is no bump in it. Cover of the book is attractive and Rupa has done a good job here.

Things that I didn’t like about the book

There was absolutely nothing that I didn’t love about the book. Just a minor craving to know more about Neel’s feelings for Rhea. I would love to know more about how he dealt with life post Rhea-Krish marriage.

So guys put your prejudice aside and take this book. I am sure that you won’t be disappointed.

Name of the book- The Tantric Curse 
Name of the author- Anupama Garg 
Publisher- Rupa Publications 
Pages- 271 
Price- INR 295