Devki Nandan Khatri

Chandrakanta is India's fitting answer to the Persian tales of magic and adventure, popularly known as Dastans. It is the story of a beautiful princess, a valiant prince who loves her, some bad men who covet her, a Tilisma, or a magical place, where she gets imprisoned, and a whole lot of Aiyaars, or spy-magicians, helping both the good and the bad sides. It is the latter ones that hold the centre-stage in this story; they can change their appearance at will, they can carry heavy loads, they can beat the horses in speed, they have potions for every purpose, they are tireless, and, they have the best sense of humour! There are a couple of female ones too, called Aiyaaras, with similar abilities.
The author has tried to explain the magic of the aiyaars and tilismas in scientific terms and has not done a convincing job. I feel that there was no need to do so, as the readers of such tales don't mind magic, in fact, they love magic!
The translator, Rohini Chowdhury, has kept it in very simple English, preserving the simplicity of the original which was written in spoken Hindi rather than some difficult literary form.
Chandrakanta is an extremely fun read, if the reader puts logic aside and dives in, intending to be entertained. The only disappointment is the negligible coverage given to Kroor Singh, the most popular character from the telivision serial Chandrakanta from the nineties.… (mer)