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Kurukshetra Anusmaranaya

කුරුක්ෂේත්‍ර අනුස්මරණය

Here is the preface of the historical fiction, Kurukshetra Anusmaranaya, the debut book of Arun Kotha. 

March 3rd 2021

4:20 AM

It was a plain day, until I realized I was about to turn to an exciting page of my life; the page that, much like a wormhole, made me travel back in time to 250 B.C. through a lucid dream.

I woke from a dream to the noise when my wife rolled over in sleep and something like a remote controller dropped off the bed. For a minute or two after waking up from the dream, I couldn't comprehend what had happened to me. I was trying to figure out which was the dream and which was reality. After deep contemplation, I realized I had dreamed something momentous; like Stephenie Meyer had vampires in her dreams, Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya had visualized lord Balaji in his dreams, Beethoven had heard his piano sonatas in his dreams, Paul McCartney had The Beatles Song in his dreams, like Srinivasa Ramanujan had goddess Namakkal telling him complex formulas in his dreams. 

The story revolves around a famous Bactrian war mathematician from 250 BC and his association with the war of Kurukshetra. Though a major portion of the main plot is fictional (straight from the dream), the anecdotes recalled from Mahabharath are in accordance with the original epic and the key connections made with the then-contemporary events are in accordance with the history and the legend, making the book a member of Historical Fiction genre. 

The great Indian epic Mahabharath has a million tales to boast about. This book, Kurukshetra Anusmaranaya will remind us of a few of the best tales amongst them. Before attempting to pen down certain portions of the story that happened in present-day Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, I did extensive research about the culture and the language in those days to such an extent that I felt I had lived in 250 B.C. 

Through this book, I would like to reintroduce readers to the forgotten anecdotes of humanity's greatest war from the perspective of an ancient war mathematician. 

I thanked my sleeping wife for her perfect timing. Had she woken me up too late, I would not have remembered the whole of it; had she woken me up too early, I would not have completed it.

A picture from Kurukshetra war depicting the Kaurava army

As a namesake of the charioteer of lord Surya, I dedicate this book to lord Surya, the creator of the material universe (including this book). Hence, I have decided to offer the first copy and the money generated from the first 365 copies as an offering to lord Surya at Konark.

Let us bow to lord Surya, the solar deity of the Hindu pantheon, to continue to bestow wisdom and create a life of abundance. With this prayer ||Suryay Namah||, we worship the "dispeller of darkness". You will find this prayer throughout the book at the end of each segment of the story.

I wish all the readers Happy reading, under the soft lamp's light. May each page of this book embrace the spirit of the reader in you and may you ask for more. 

Please write to kurukshetraanusmaranaya@gmail.com to pre-order a copy of the book. For more updates, please join our WhatsApp group using the link below: 

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Arun Kotha