Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar - Book Review

This is a review of the debut book by Kochery C. Shibu titled Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar.

Here is the review of the book...

• Title - Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar
• Author - Kochery C. Shibu
• Pages - 284
• Publishers - Niyogi Books
• Format - eBook [Also available in print]
• Genre - Fiction
• Price -  63 /- eBook [Paperback-INR 330/]

A hydelpower project in the remote Himalayas. Three people brought together by fate. Nanda, an engineer from Kerala at the dam construction site hiding from his past, from the law, torn between the love of his dear ones and the traditional kalari code of revenge. Khusru, a boy displaced from his native village in Kashmir, a gambit in the terror plot threatening to blow up the dam, working as a laborer at the site. Rekha, a Kathak dancer in heart, a doctor by profession, arrives at the campsite as the consort of Khusru. A village that accepts the dictates of modernity with a heavy heart, its population steeped in superstitions and religious beliefs.

All throng the campsite like moths to a flame, some escape untouched, successful; some, miss a step, and perish. Each has a story to tell and a dream to realize. Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar is about the aspirations of these people with their cares and worries woven into the site life. The fury of nature and the hardships of project life have no mercy for the weak and no time for the dead. Like an eternal spectator the Dhauladhar watches as men risk life and limb in a quest to fulfill their dreams.

• Nanda - An engineer from Kerala who is an exponent in Kalari, a martial Art form and works in the commissioning of the Hydel power project.
• Khusru-A young Kashmiri youth who is abandoned by his parents and lives with his uncle till he is caught under a cross fire. He is then recruited by a 'bearded man' where Khusru follows all his instructions!
• Rekha - A doctor turned Katak dancer who ,through some twist of fate, joins the Hydel camp site and gets recruited as the Doctor in charge!
• And a whole bunch of side characters like Indumati,Mangu Ram and his son, Thekdars, Rekha's grandmother, Nandhinikutty,Rajanish,Rafiq,Mukesh, a horde of workers in the khan group, the Lal Mahal team,some Russian / Chechen para gliders,PM,Ghoraji ,Sanjay Rathore- the investigating officer,etc,etc, who have various small parts in this book.

The trio - Nanda, Khusru,Rekha by twists and turns of fate land together at various points of the book at Dhauladhar's Hydel power plant project site.

Read the rest of the review on my other blog. Click here..