A gripping thriller that provokes

On the Brink of Death by Sanjay Sonwani is passionately written and the subject chosen by him is different and has never been attempted by any Indian novelist.

True to its name, the first-ever Indian political thriller 'On the Brink of Death' is a fast paced chiller that keeps the readers restive until the next event unfolds. Written on the backdrop of Rajiv Ghandhi's assassination, it's a tale of shocking political conspiracies, of human perseverance, of faith and survival instincts in the face of terror and death. It is also a story of mean political games, vested interest and dangerous motives to keep the Indian sub continent politically unstable. For the first time an Indian author has attempted to write on a subject, hitherto unheard of in the Indian literary scene, and for it he deserves full marks. The story begins with Venugopal- a mediocre fisherman-who is the protagonist of the novel, being asked by, Thyagarajan, his agent, to see one Mr. S. Varadarajan for some urgent work. Not knowing what sort of urgent work is there, he rushes to meet the old man at midnight. Upon meeting Varadarajan, Venu encounters the first shocking revelation the good Varadarajan is a member of Tamil Tigers, an organization Venu abhors.

Here he is forced to carry a parcel in his trawler, all by himself, to the Northern Coast of Sri Lanka. He is also offered a reward of Rs. 50 lakhs for the job. Remembering his father's involvement with the LTTE fills him with disgust, and his subsequent death at the hands of the Cost Guard sends jitters in him to carry out the work. But he realizes that refusing to accept the job would jeopardize not only his own but his dear wife Janki's life too, so he agrees to sail the parcel to its destination.

Finally, when he is all set to go on sail, Venu is surprised to find Krishnan, a long lost college chum, on his trawler to sail with him to the North Coast of Sri Lanka. He remembered Krishnan had gone to London for higher studies and later he had disappeared. For many years there was no news about him. Krishnan's presence on the trawler baffles him. Although Venu is very upset with the recent events that has put him in a great predicament, he has resigned himself to his fate. On the sail he discovers that Krishnan is the parcel he is supposed to deliver . Krishnan's association with the LTTE leads to a series of heated arguments between the two friends and what Venu discovers leaves him dismayed. Krishnan has masterminded horrifying plans that killed two Sri Lankan ministers. Besides taking active part in the rebellion against the IPKF, he was also responsible for setting up the high frequency wireless network in India - Yesu-FTFSFGXY. To his astonishment he learns that Krishnan is the only person to know where Shivarasan, the dreaded militant, who masterminded Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, was hiding.

All this sets our protagonist wondering how a believer in Gandhian Philosophy turns to militancy. Amidst their arguments which turns in to friendly discussions at times, and despite the constant threats from coast guards, the sail continues uneventfully till they nearly reach their destination. But behold! Destiny has something else in store for the duo. In a shocking turn of events the LTTE declares Krishnan a traitor and issues a death warrant for him! Venu is in quandary whether to push his friend in the jaws of death or to save him. Saving Krishnan would mean challenging the might of LTTE, and letting him killed at the hands of enemy would be against human compassion. Impulsively, he turns the trawler back; nurses injured Krishnan, and put a lonely fight against LTTEís attempts to sink his trawler. Somehow they manage to reach the Indian coasts. There they discover that Venu's wife is in LTTE captivity. Krishnan promises to save her life, but in the attempt they fail and meet with a terrible accident. When they regain consciousness after the lapse of several weeks they find themselves in the hands of the CIA.

They are informed that Janki has been burnt alive. This tears the heart of Venu and in a fit of rage he accepts the offer of their saviors to eliminate Prabhakaran The events and incidents of the past few days has destroyed their hopes of survival. The death of Janki finally sealed hope of a normal life too.

Well armed and hearts afire with vengeance, they are transported till Elephanta pass. As they slip into the LTTE region, a chain of savage incidents welcomes them. Many secrets starts coming to the fore and their doubt crystallizes in to a firm belief about the role of CIA in Rajiv Gandhi assassination and their covert support to LTTE along with other nations that wants to cause political instability in an Indian subcontinent. As the story progresses from page to page it unfolds horrifying mysteries, heinous conspiracies and horrendous plots. The narrative underscores the strength of unrelenting human spirit in the face of precarious oddities and of human persistence. It also underscores the psychological upheavals and tragedy of common people.

The nerve tingling and gripping story line of the novel will shake you out of your mental comforts and would compel you to wonder how the superpowers would go to any extent to cause political instability in an Indian subcontinent. This novel is an attempt of the author to highlight mercenary activities of LTTE, showcase how innocent people are roped in and made to suffer.

Though, it is a maiden work of the author in English, the description of supporting characters, settings, actions, conversations, sermons and arguments are designed to augment the scope of the first ever political thriller, while casting a light on some political malaise and global terrorism. In narrating the books, the author has elaborated the best and worst in race, religion, politics and militancy.

The drama is vivid and becomes thought provoking, passing critical comments on racism and ethnicity and alerts a global community on such dangerous trends. Consciously the author has avoided writing the darker side of India, which most Indian authors do. Described in the narration of fisherman's language, which many readers will find, is just apt, it's passionately written unlike many fictions that are merely figments of autobiographies. Also, the subject chosen by journalist turned-entrepreneur turned- novelist Mr. Sanjay Sonawani is different and has never been attempted by any Indian novelist.
-Courtesy Jam Reviews.

Laugh Zone
Uncle's funeral
The office boy had taken the afternoon off to go to his uncle's funeral. The boss, thinking that the boy might not have been entirely truthful, went along to the cricket ground to check him out. Sure enough, there he was.

'So this is your uncle's funeral?' he said.

'It looks like it,' said the boy, 'he's the umpire!'

Why's that out?
The stonewaller had been at the crease for two hours and had scored one run. It finally got too much for the umpire. He raised his finger and said:'Out'.

'What for?' said the batsman.

'Loitering with intent,' answered the umpire.

Umpire at the gate
Just before the match, the secretary received a message in his office from the turnstiles. There's an umpire down here with two friends. Wants to know if they can come in.'

'No,' replied the secretary , 'the man's obviously lying

.''How do you make that out?

''Whoever heard of an umpire with two friendsí

Be totally fair
The captain was talking to the umpire. 'Now when you're out there, I expect you to be perfectly fair and stick to the rules. But I'd like to point out that this ground is right next to the hospital, the canal runs down the other side and we haven't lost a game all season!'

No unpleasantness
Two rival teams were playing and local feeling was running high. The timid umpire called the two captains together before the game and said, 'Now the last thing I want is any unpleasantness.'

The tough captain glared at him. 'Any other last wishes?' he growled.

How do you spell
The umpire had been hard on the bowler, no-balling him and turning down his every appeal.

'By the way,' asked the bowler, 'how do you spell your name?'

'Britton,' said the umpire, 'B-r-i-t-t-o-n.'

'Just as I thought,' murmured the bowler, 'only one 'I' !'

Heckling the umpire
In a local match, the umpire was being jeered and heckled unmercifully from the crowd. At length he walked over to the boundary and sat down next to his chief critic.

"What are you doing?" asked the spectator.

"Well," said the umpire,"it seems you get the best view from here."

That wasn't out
In a tense game, a batsman was given run out, a decision with which he obviously disagreed. He paced up and down outside the pavilion until the umpires came in.

'I wasn't out, you know,' he said to the umpire.

'Oh no? Look in the paper tomorrow!' said the umpire.

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