The dawn of Kalki

The dawn of Kalki

All religions have the concept of the end of days, where the world will come to end, and the righteous will be led by a messiah. For Muslims, it is the Mahdi, for Christians, the second coming of Christ and for Hindus, it will be the final avatar of Vishnu, named Kalki.

There is some difference here compared with other religions, mind. In other religions, the world ends. Kalki will lead the world into a new ‘satya yuga’, starting a new cycle of time, to be repeated again and again. There is no concept of beginning or end. The cosmos is created and destroyed cyclically. At present, we are in Kali Yuga, and if we believe in the scriptures, the time of Kalki is coming soon. Adharma is rising, as shown by the rising tide of lawlessness and atrocities getting unpunished.

Author Vishwas Mudagal bases the first of his trilogy Age of Kalki where China and India are still at loggerheads. Taking a cue from the current geopolitics, there is a terrorist group carrying out heinous attacks on India, and is being backed by Pakistan and some elements from China. The organisation is aptly named ‘The Invisible Hand’. Its main opponent is another secret society called The Rudras, and their champion is Kalki, who is also head of a weapons corporation that has saved India many times.

However, things take a turn for the worse. China’s current premier’s son, a decidedly Timur-like figure, is a Hand operative and has bad plans for India. Soon, the Indian Parliament is destroyed and the entire chain of command of the Indian Army. But just when India needs Kalki, he is set upon and captured by China. His interrogator is a superhuman, who will soon be alongside him for the fight of their life, as they are in the cross hairs of the Hand, and utter apocalypse stares ahead. They are not sure who is with them, and who is against.

The characters are well-etched. One of our most holy deities is first introduced as a nigh-indestructible android. While the book is set in the future, some of the inventions described should be strictly taken with a pinch of salt. Also, the evil side here does seem to take after a similarly named Marvel Comics counterpart. Both are shadowy organisations composed of evil ninjas. That said, the book is still quite a page-turner. The end is a cliffhanger with just enough suspense to make us wait for the next part.

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