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Young World
A mythical tale
SUBAJAYANTHI
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A copper doll, an excavation site, three kids...a mystery in the making.
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Vanuvati is a copper doll, ancient and mystical. Three children - Vittal, Malavika and Chikka - find her on an excavation site called Bhagodaro, where they have gone to camp. A professors’ team from the Archaeological Survey of India consider her of great value and safeguard her with other historical finds in a shed from where she gets stolen. A worker on the site gets beaten up before the theft and fear grips the entire dig.
Who is it?
Who could have dared ventured into the high-security site? The children decide to investigate with help from camel boy Bholu. Strange digging noises are heard through the night. And flashing lights too.
On one such night Vittal too gets beaten. Arguments, panic and fear ensue. Who is the mysterious marauder? And where is Vanuvati?
The author has scripted an adventure story in a historical setting, with an impressive, captivating plot. Mythology could not have been made more interesting for young readers.
Vanuvati, the doll that dates back to 2500 BC, gets lost in a flood; is discovered again in 713 AD; goes missing again to resurface in Bhagodaro dig. Thus goes her story, frame by frame but centuries apart. The storyline is intact; the brief chapters and the effortless narrative ensure that.
THE SMILE OF VANUVATI,
Harini Gopalswami Srinivasan, Tulika, Rs.150
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