THE SCRIPTURE READER - The Tales of the Cartouche  (Hardcover, SOUMEEK CHOWDHURI)

Alekhya, a brilliant student from a poor family in a marginalized area of Bengal comes to do his master's degree at a top university in the city where he is absolutely enamored by his surroundings and specially his professor Bagchi, an icon in the university. He has brought with him an old scripture from the temple where his family have been traditional priests from time immemorial which he starts to interpret with the help of an old curator and scholar in ancient civilization bitter about his job from the museum and brings them to Bagchi which impresses the well-known professor but who is yet to do anything that can inscribe his name in the annals of history. It seems from these writings that the Aryan civilization was pre dated by a civilization down South and Professor Bagchi finally can arrange an expedition to the place indicated by the scriptures. In a journey that takes Alekhya on a journey to discover history and make some too, will it lead to fame or will it lead to a path of self-destruction in a country where opening this Pandora's box might have a socio-political impact of huge magnitude in a charged atmosphere with elections looming on the horizon. On a journey of discovery will it also be a journey of self-discovery for Alekhya and realization that characters of people who make up history are no less difficult to decipher than reading the Scriptures.