Audible narrated by the author himself!
Running length more than ten hours!
It is always a pleasure listening and reading books and novels by William Dalrymple since the way he describes suff is music!
Of course the best thing is that the narration is straight from the heart!
It is so unfortunate that what we all know to be true is universally accepted only when a ‘English’ man with an amazing accent tells it to the world! The same words with an Indian accent or even in any other language does not have much power even if is true!
This is in spite of the abysmal way William Pronounces the Indian and specifically the Sanskrit words! It was painful to listen to him narrate the indian names! Then in the end he talks about Laila and MAJUN! (that was not a typo! That is how he pronounced Majnu!)
He gets so many stories in the Puranas wrong!
But in spite of all these, the attempt to bring out the glory of India deserves a big salute and Namaste from my side and all Indians when many within do not have much respect for out great history!
The golden road is the spice route and how the trade flourished so much so that India was one of the richest countries in the world! In fact any place you find so much wealth and prosperity was known as India! It was a synonym of richness! It still is…
Even now he declares with pride how one city of Indonesia is named Ayodhya or how the national airways of Thailand is Garuda! Goosebumps!
The chief matter of the book though is the role of Buddha and the birth and emergence of Buddhism
The importance and the construction of nalanda and the sections it used to have been described so well! It was a university unlike any other in the world! With so many sections and floors and a big collection of books! Getting into the university was the most coveted and the hardest thing at that time!
The chance discovery of Ajantha caves has been told by a charming story and how! Which leads to the typical William style of story telling of the stories of the kings and queens and story of ashoka!
He also tells about the rise of Buddhism in the rules of Ashoka, Chandragupta and maurya stories!
The most interesting ones were the the stories from china! Probably because the Indian stories we already knew! The ones from China were new!
The most engaging ones were the story of the monk and his and arduous journey! It ends well but it takes time! He was responsible for the translation of the ancient indian texts and the propagation of the same!
He then narrates the story of the the concubine who became an empress! This story told with his epic narration seemed like a script of Game of Thrones! It is one of the most rivetting stories of rise to be the empress of China! From a ordinary woman to the most powerful one! The first and the last Empress of China!
The rise of budhism in china have been told with these epic stories and then the fall! By the time it rose in China you could see its fall even in India
The novels ends with notes about Genghis Khan, Akbar and Persians.
Still he does mention about the role of Indians in the discovery of mathematics and the modern numerical system which is Indian! Also the biggest contribution of India in the world of mathematics! The Shunya or the ZERO!
If you do not want the bad pronunciation of Indian words, you can read the ebook! But to get the message and goosebumps as an Indian; listen to the audiobook! You will feel pride; if you are a true Indian of course!
The way he concludes how India has always been at the forefront of education whether it is ancient times or even now made me feel so much pride especially since I am presently not in India!
Read and listen as soon as possible!
ramadocblog 