History, but with thrills

Ashwin Sanghi’s new novel ‘The Magicians of Mazda’ is a deft blend of imagination, history and thrills. The author has quite the knack to weave a fast-paced thriller infused with facts.

The novel revolves around the central theme of the Zoroastrian faith and its devotees. Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions, the exponents of which have been brutally and barbarically persecuted for generations. The chief protagonist Jim Dastoor has an old relic of the Zoroastrian community in his possession. Unaware of its importance, he keeps on leading a mundane life with his wife till shrewd intelligence agencies from different nations begin to hound him with enormous ferocity. The man becomes all the more sought after as he is also a famous scientist by profession who has invented a miraculous drug. Therefore, he comes under the radar of a pharmaceutical company which prowls after him to extract the secret formula of that wonder drug. Soon a hot chase is initiated to ensnare him in the trap. Caught up in this traumatic state of affairs, his only support is his loyal non-Parsi intellectual wife, a research scholar of history. But as we move ahead, we find that umpteen people are fervently aspiring to get hold of that relic which they believe retains certain magical properties.

What finally lies in store for our chief protagonist is for readers to explore. The plot is, in fact, resplendent with parallel narratives. A major chunk of the book contains an enormous amount of historical details. While dwelling on the historical sagas of yore, the novel depicts the similarities between the Zoroastrian faith and Vedic religion, between Sanskrit and Avestan, and the Vedas and Avesta. One marvels at these similarities that the scriptures of various religions share and how they essentially convey the common message of peace and harmony.