L: Loved reading this book~ Prisoner, Jailor, Prime Minister by Tabrik C!

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This is the first political thriller I’ve read in my life and this page-turner held my rapt attention till I read the very last page! Prisoner, Jailor, Prime Minister is a racy political story with many twists and turns. It is about Harvard-educated Siddhartha Tagore, who catapults into political centrestage after being spotted by ‘Lok Neta’ in New York, years after his illustrious father’s demise. Tagore is also a rare musical genius- combining the talents of Mozart and Tansen! He is the first rock-star Prime Minister of India and a true Tibet-lover with strong views against China and Pakistan. He is one whom Providence saves from an assassination attempt at his loved place- Tibet, while he was Leader of Opposition. In fact how this alongwith Lok Neta’s sudden death gets him to enter 7 RCR makes for a great political story. Tagore is a firm Constitution protector and will do anything it takes to stop the country being sabotaged by his right-wing opponents- who want a radical Constitutional change.

And what about his personal life? It takes his opponents a while to dig out his murky past and also his bipolar disorder- which generally affects many creative geniuses. How his vitriolic opponents (among them Rukmani Devi- a Nobel Prize winner and Thor- an American Professor) manipulate his present to drive in his disturbing past into Tagore’s otherwise lonely yet powerful life aiming to bring out his worst in front of the world, forms the crux of the story. 

I loved the strong characterisation of all members of Tagore’s in-laws’ family- Ruby, Karisma, young Kabir and his parents-in-law- the perfume empire owners. Ruby especially is adorable. Her tragedy only adds to her enigma. The story scuttles across time-periods- Harvard days and the present (2016 & 2017). The protagonist’s thoughts also take us across cities- Boston, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, New York and so on. I also like how the author effortlessly shifts between first and third-person for telling Siddhartha’s story. The links between the close of one chapter and the start of the next is also innovative, connecting across continents, people and time-periods.

I felt more could have been done to make the plot still more riveting. Rukmani is shown to be almost completely giving up her strong ideology while Kabir’s strong presence fades away in the last few chapters. Lack of security (both Indian and American) for the beloved and powerful Indian Prime Minister on the boat towards Liberty Island also seems far-fetched. Knowing Thor as a murderer later at a point in the story, Indian government’s efforts to track him down are not hinted at in the story. A few other small loose-ends still hang around after I’ve read the book- like a radioactive cloud! ;)

Yet all in all, the book makes for a pleasurable read. It captures the Internet and social-media revolution among Indian public perfectly and brings the ‘personality’ debate in Indian elections to the fore. It provides food for thought for a Parliamentary versus Presidential system in India. Even the nuclear security threat to India due to tactical small nuke weapons in Pakistan’s hands is almost certainly already a reality and is covered well in the book. 

Bringing in an amalgamation of current issues and extrapolating them into the future, the author does a commendable job marrying music, love, intelligence, politics and patriotism in this book. In fact, I was so enamoured by repeated playing of Symphony 40 of Mozart in Siddhartha’s mind that I had to listen to it! And oh- I have listened to it a million times and just didn't know this one was called Symphony 40! :D Sharing the brilliant piece below for you!

I rate this book 3/5 and recommend it to those who would love a heady mix of politics, love, music, religion and thrill! 

Tabrik C deserves credit for making Siddhartha Tagore linger on in my mind...! I wish we could get a highly educated, charismatic, rock-star Prime Minister of India like Siddhartha Tagore! :)

**Big thanks to Blogadda for giving me a chance to review this book! I loved it and that’s why I’ve linked this post to the letter ‘L’ of A to Z Challenge 2014 and posting it a day in advance too- “Loved reading this book- Prisoner, Jailor, Prime Minister by Tabrik C”! :D