HARSHA: The fearless warrior of Thanesar by Rajat Pillai - Book Review

NAME OF THE BOOK: HARSHA: The fearless warrior of Thanesar

NAME OF THE AUTHOR: Rajat Pillai

GENRE: Historical period fiction

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rajat Pillai is a Mumbai based software technology architect whose first book Chandragupta was a national bestseller. It was translated into regional languages and the movie rights were acquired by a global production house. He has ventured into different genres with novels like Dead Woman Writing and Yoddha, which have garnered critical acclaims from national media.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The book "Harsha " is about the ruler who was benevolent, energetic, just and active in the administration and prosperity of his empire. After the death of King Prabhakarvardhan and Queen Yasomati of Thanesar, Harsha and his brother had to face unpredictable challenges and animosity. There were series of tragic incidents happened after the death of their parents that had shaped Harsha's personality forever. And the most tragic was Rajvashri, his sister's abduction. At a tender age of 17, Harshvardhan was crowned as the king, who went on to become one of the greatest kings of India with an empire covering most of north India. The biggest challenge faced by him was, to rescue his sister from unfriendly lands and found himself stranded amidst political turmoil, unknown enemies, uncharted regions and altering ego. But despite less experience, his intelligence and self motivation made him the most popular King, whose reign was called as the golden period in Indian history. Harsha's reign was a period of prosperity, benevolence to all the regions, promotion of arts and welfare for the common man. 

An Insightful Session by Meghna Pant, Kiran Manral & Kanchana Banerjee on Relatability in Fiction #BlogchatterWritFest

A sign of good book is when characters make you feel intense emotions and the reason you are turning pages is because you are feeling things. 

The best tips come from people who have been there and done that. Blogchatter Writfest brings us some immensely successful and talented authors who have published number of books and are inspiring budding writers and authors. Today I am sharing an insightful session conducted by Blogchatter WritFest with Meghana Pant, Kiran Manral & Kanchana Banerjee which was moderated by our own Harshita Nanda.

When asked how does an author make a strong social issue the focus of the book, without making it moralistic or preachy?

All the author unanimously agreed that whether the character is a noble-hearted man or a thieving anti-hero , if you want your readers to invest in their journeys, you have to make your character look relatable. And what makes a character relatable, their humanity, the reader should be able to empathize with your characters. Some times you might have to add some humor, romance or thriller in the story to make it light and interesting. Meghna Pant added saying that women centric books that are focusing on any social cause still needs more acceptability and requires correct portrayal of their personality by giving narratives that takes feminism forward. 

" Women are neither Becharies, nor Krantikaries they are just normal Naaries" very well articulated by (in Hindi) - Meghna Pant.

Do author gets self indulgent in terms of plot twisting or language and how to avoid that and be more relatable?

According to Kanchana Banerjee, clarity while writing is the key. Writers do soak in all they see around. It is difficult to keep yourself aloof from the society and it does reflect in your writing but sometime you need to be little cautious and restrain yourself from being too self indulgent. Know your vision for your story and adhere to it with discipline. It is fine to play around for a while but don't get sidetracked from what's best for your story. Keep your writing crisp and powerful as possible.

Season 6 of BlogchatterWritFest: Connecting Readers with Authors #BlogchatterWritFest

Blochatter's Writfest has gained immense popularity and is back with an impressive line-up of exemplary authors with their revolutionary ideas. It is an online interactive space that brings together authors and readers. The participants, the readers and the followers can catch them live on Facebook. These live sessions will give readers an opportunity not just to listen to these phenomenal authors but can interact with them by asking questions which will be answered on the spot.

Books have been recognized as men's best friend in every corner of the world and literature is being celebrated for the kind of effect it has on our culture. Therefore I think Blogchatter's Writfest is a beautiful initiative and celebration of an art form that not just touches everyone's life but makes it worth living for.

Blogchatter's Tagline "Lets Talk About You" says a lot about their beliefs. So this platform does every thing to uplift the community and society as a whole. As you all know multinational giant Amazon has decided to saw off its Indian publishing arm, Westland Books. Blogchatter has taken a commendable initiative to buy these books from the stores and give them as giveaways. 

Why Should you attend Blogchatter's WritFest

• Meet your favorite authors
• Learn about new authors
• Promote and encourage reading
• Connect with like minded people
• Learn new skills
• A way to improve your writing
• Can be part of book launch 
• Act as a workshop for budding authors

What is in there for you