Roll of the Dice

The dark age of Kali is rising, and every man and woman must choose between duty and conscience, honour and shame, life and death.... The Pandavas, banished to the forest following the disastrous games of dice, return to Hastinapura. Draupadi has vowed not to bind her hair till she washes it in the blood of the Kauravas. Karna must choose between loyalty and gratitude, friend and Guru. Aswathama undertakes a perilous mission to the mountains of Gandhara, in search of the Evil One. Kunti must decide between her firstborn and her other sons.

The story of the Ramayana had been told innumerable times. The enthralling story of Rama, the incarnation of God, who slew Ravana, the evil demon of darkness, is known to every Indian. And in the pages of history, as always, it is the version told by the victors that lives on. The voice of the vanquished remains lost in silence. But what if Ravana and his people had a different story to tell? The story of the Ravanayana had never been told. Asura is the epic tale of the vanquished Asura people, a story that has been cherished by the oppressed outcastes of India for 3,000 years.

India, 3400 BCE. A land in tumult, poverty and chaos. Most people suffer quietly. A few rebel. Some fight for a better world. Some for themselves. Some don’t give a damn. Raavan. Fathered by one of the most illustrious sages of the time. Blessed by the Gods with talents beyond all. Cursed by fate to be tested to the extremes. A formidable teenage pirate, he is filled with equal parts courage, cruelty and fearsome resolve. A resolve to be a giant among men, to conquer, plunder and seize the greatness that he thinks is his right.

1700 BCE, Harappa - The devta of Harappa has fallen tortured and condemned to the dungeons of the dead. His murdered wife’s pious blood falls on the sands of the metropolis, sealing the black fate of Harappa forever. 2017, Banaras - A master assassin bites into cyanide, but not before pronouncing the arrival of an unstoppable, dark force. A maha-taantric offers a chilling sacrifice. AD 325, Bithynian City (modern-day Turkey) - Unable to foresee the monster he was untethering, an extraordinary monarch commissions a terrifying world-vision spanning millennia.

The ancient Indian Sanskrit epic the Rāmāyana was composed some time between the first and fifth centuries BCE. As is the case with most ancient literature firmly rooted in the oral tradition, precise dating is problematic. Traditionally attributed to the sage Valmīki, and composed in rhyming couplets, it is one of the two great Indian epics (the other being the Mahābhārata); consequently it is known and revered not just throughout the Indian subcontinent but also in South-East Asian countries as well, indeed wherever Hindu culture became established.  

2017, Delhi - Vidyut’s dying ancestor summons him to Banaras. The old Brahmin chieftain of the Dev-Raakshasa Matth, or the God-Demon Clan, bears a chilling secret. Their bloodline carries an ancient curse that will plague mankind - towards its own violent extinction. 1700 BCE, Harappa - Harappa is a magnificent city on the banks of the mighty Saraswati river. The darkness of treachery, taantric exorcism and bloodshed unleashes itself on the last devta, paving the way for his devastating revenge...and the horrifying truth behind the fall of the glorious civilisation.

Aditya runs a gaming company that is struggling to break even. A banker slips off a high-rise building, plunging to her death. The finance minister has made some promises that he is finding hard to keep. The LTTE has unleashed terror in America that sends the FBI on a wild goose chase, bringing them to Mumbai. Enter Varun, part-time drug dealer and full-time genius. He turns around the gaming company before disaster strikes. Meanwhile, the investigators plunge headlong into the shady world of bitcoins and the Dark Net, websites that only exist for illegal transactions.

Asoka the Great discovers an ancient and terrible secret - a secret buried deep in the Mahabharata; a secret that could destroy the world; a secret hidden away for over 2,300 years....

The story of Ravana and his people has been told innumerable times. This is the Hindi translation of the number one national best seller. This saga is of victory and defeat - a story that has been tainted by India's oppressed and exploited caste for 3,000 years. Unlike the Ramayana, the story of Ravana has never been told so far. But now it's time to speak for the dead and the defeated. 

In 334 BC Alexander the Great begins his conquest of the Persian Empire. But his plans for everlasting glory do not end there, and the young king marches towards the Ends of the Earth - the lands of the Indus - on a secret quest. It will lead him to an ancient secret concealed in the myths of the Mahabharata - a secret that is powerful enough to transform him into a god. Present day. In Greece the ancient tomb of a queen is discovered, a tomb that has been an enigma for over 2,000 years.

Combining mystery and mythology, this epic fantasy is a global best seller with over 300,000 copies sold. India, 3400 BCE. The ancient kingdom of Mithila is divided by corruption, resentment, and poverty. An abandoned baby is found in a field protected by a vulture from a pack of wolves. Soon adopted by the rulers of the land, she is named Sita, and raised as a princess and beloved daughter.

Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age - the Kaliyug. In modern times a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial killer.

Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He instead imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know....

1699 BCE, the Marshes of Aryavarta - As the titanic waves of pralay swallow city after city, a final battle for the Ark and the Earth begins. A ruthless barbarian-king threatens the very existence of mankind, heralding Kaliyuga - the eon of Kali. 2017, Banaras - A sacred nakshatra erupts in the night sky as the fateful, prophesied hour arrives. A God sacrifice turns into a horrific raakshasa-bali, even as the devta uncovers the bloodstained chronicles of a sinister Brotherhood.

The trajectories of Arvind and Arbaaz, both businessmen of a kind whose lives are unwillingly intertwined, ricochet off one another while they play out their sinister and murderous plots of personal and professional one-upmanship, all the while breaking every rule in the book. Both are unaware that what they seek and fight over is the very obstacle in realising an ancient secret that dates back to a time long forgotten. And yet, at the heart of it all, there lies tenderness...and pathos...and blood...and rare moments of an almost exalted happiness.