Ashwin Sanghi
| Ashwin Sanghi | |
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| Born | January 25, 1969 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation | Author, entrepreneur |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Genres | Thriller, mystery fiction |
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www.shawnhaigins.com |
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Ashwin Sanghi (born January 25, 1969) is an Indian author of thriller fiction, best known for his 2007 novel, The Rozabal Line. Sanghi is interested in the lost years of Jesus, the primary theme of his first novel which hypothesizes that Jesus survived the crucifixion and traveled to India. The Rozabal Line was originally published under his pseudonym Shawn Haigins. The revised edition of The Rozabal Line was published by Westland Ltd. & Tranquebar Press in 2008 under his own name.
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[edit] Biography
Ashwin Sanghi was born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, the youngest of three children. His schooling was at the Cathedral and John Connon School (Class of 1985). After graduating from Cathedral in 1985 Sanghi attended St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He attended the Yale School of Management, receiving an MBA in 1993. After graduating from Yale, Sanghi joined his family's business enterprise while continuing to write thriller fiction part-time.
[edit] First novel
The Rozabal Line deals with the subject of Jesus having survived the crucifixion and having settled down and died in India, eventually being buried in Roza Bal. The fictional element is much like Dan Brown's blockbuster novel Da Vinci Code, but Sanghi's historical basis is derived from several other books on the subject including Jesus Lived in India by Holger Kersten[1] and The Unknown Life of Jesus by Nicolas Notovich. According to Tehelka, an Indian left-wing news magazine, The Rozabal Line is "a thriller that inquires into the controversial claim that Jesus Christ travelled to India and was buried in Kashmir’s Rozabal Tomb".[2] The Hindu, one of India's national daily newspapers, says that "The book deals in greater depth with the issue of Christ’s union with Mary Magdalene touched upon by The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown as well as incorporating postulates of several other books including Jesus Lived in India: Life Before and After the Crucifixion by Holger Kersten and Jesus Died In Kashmir: Jesus, Moses and The Ten Lost Tribes Of Israel by Andreas Kaiser".[3] Since the time the novel was published, there has reportedly been a significant upsurge of visitors to the Roza Bal shrine in Srinagar.[4] The book's publisher Westland Ltd. has experienced success with the novel, issuing repeat runs.[5] The novel also succeeded in creating a historical/mythological thriller genre in India that Indian writers had not hitherto explored. Pradeep Sebastian of The Hindu wrote, "And so The Lost Symbol comes two years too late. Conspiracy thrillers swamped the market, reaching even Indian shores with The Rozabal Line, and offered us so much meat, that we couldn’t relish chewing anymore."[6] At a talk delivered in Chennai, the author explained that "We assume the different faiths are distinctly different, but once you start tracing back the roots of their beliefs, you find their origins are much closer that you might imagine."[7] Irrespective of the controversial theme surrounding his book, the author has continuously maintained that his book is a work of fiction.[8] and should be read as a fiction conspiracy thriller.[9] In an interview to a leading tabloid, the author was asked "Do you believe that Jesus lived in India?" and he replied "I don't think it's in any way relevant if he came here or not. But do I wish it was true? Yes, completely. Isn't that such a romantic notion?".[10] MV Kamath, leading commentator has said that the book is "provocative, but certainly commanding attention.".[11]
[edit] Reality vs. novel's fiction
The Hindustan Times was the first to point out that Sanghi's novel bears several similarities to the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.[12] In particular, Sanghi's novel spoke of an attack by the Lashkar-e-Taiba an Islamist terror group based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It also spoke of the Lashkar spinning off an ultra-elite group of twelve commandos, similar to the Deccan Mujahideen. The plot of The Rozabal Line uses a ship off the coast of Gujarat as well as a Thuraya satellite phone besides describing the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower as the residence of one of the main characters in the story. Sanghi also described the group as being controlled by the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan without the knowledge of the Pakistani president. All these elements were purportedly present in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
[edit] Shawn Haigins
The first edition of The Rozabal Line was published in 2007 in the US under Sanghi's pseudonym Shawn Haigins.[13] "Shawn Haigins" is a perfect anagram of the name "Ashwin Sanghi". Some commentators such as Humra Quraishi felt that the book should have been published under Sanghi's real name [14] and consequently the substantially revised 2008 edition was published in India by Sanghi under his own name.[15]
[edit] Second novel
Chanakya's Chant is a fictional retelling of the life of Chanakya the great political strategist of ancient India. The novel relates two stories in parallel, the first of Chanakya and his machinations to bring Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of Magadha; the second, that of a modern-day character called Gangasagar Mishra who makes it his ambition to position a slum child as the Prime Minister of India. According to the Hindustan Times, "Keep the internal monologues and descriptions as taut as a-held-by-the-thumb sacred thread and we have Ashwin Sanghi's cracker of a page turner, Chanakya's Chant. Two narratives flow like the Ganga and Yamuna, one located 2300 years ago in the kingdom of Magadha where Chanakya seeks and gets his vengeance; the other in the slightly distant future (the 18th prime minister is being sworn in before the narrative goes into flashback) where Gangasagar Mishra gets down and dirty to play the kingmaker in India's politics. Sanghi peppers his novel with quotes from folks as disparate as Benjamin Franklin, Oscar Wilde and Mao Zedong but for the reader of this brisk technicoloured thriller, here's a book that will be familiar in its details for all desi observers of politics and the psycho-drama behind it all." [16]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kersten, Holger. Jesus Lived in India. London: Element, 1986. ISBN 0906540909
- ^ First Look Books, Tehelka, 1 November 2008.
- ^ Srikanth, Siddharth. "Reading a hurricane: A thrilling novel that keeps you at the edge of your seat", The Hindu, NxG, 27 November 2008.
- ^ Raina, Muzaffar. "Jesus Kashmir ‘tomb’ draws tourists", The Telegraph (Kolkata), 3 April 2010.
- ^ Balakrishnan, Paran. "Winning words", The Telegraph (Kolkata), 26 July 2009.
- ^ Sebastian, Pradeep. "Craving for a good conspiracy thriller", Deccan Herald (Bangalore), 10 August 2009.
- ^ Kumar, Divya. "A matter of faith", The Hindu (Chennai), 11 May 2009.
- ^ Chakrapani, Saranya. "A fiction on Jesus", The Indian Express (Chennai), 11 May 2009.
- ^ Prakash, Harish. "'History with conspiracy sells'", Deccan Chronicle (Chennai), 12 May 2009.
- ^ Banan, Aastha Atray. "Did Jesus spend his final days in Kashmir?", Mid-Day, Mumbai, 7 March 2009.
- ^ Kamath, MV. "Did Jesus die on the cross or came to India?", Organiser, New Delhi, 22 February 2009.
- ^ Basu, Satarupa. "Premonition of Evil?", Hindustan Times, Kolkata, 7 December 2008.
- ^ Haigins, Shawn. The Rozabal Line, 2007. ISBN 9781430327547
- ^ Quraishi, Humra. "Signs of the Times",[dead link] Kashmir Times.
- ^ Sanghi, Ashwin. The Rozabal Line, 2008. ISBN 9788189975814
- ^ Thapar, Mondy. "Above High Command", Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 28 January 2011.
[edit] References
- Blogcritics Magazine. Review by Friend Mouse, December 2, 2007.
- Bookreporter.com. Review by J. Kaye Oldner.
- ForeWord Clarion. Review by Todd Mercer.
- J. Kaye's Book Blog. Review by Steve Oldner, December 18, 2007.
- MBR Bookwatch. Dunford's Bookshelf, December 2008.
- TCM Reviews. Review by Shannon Frost.
- Tomb of Jesus. Interview on Tomb of Jesus.
