The Ekkos Clan 

by 

Sudipto Das

 

 My Review

The Ekkos Clan is a well researched and well drafted effort from a promising debutant Sudipto Das. If this is his first attempt, god knows what all he has with him to offer in years to come. Kudos for the efforts put in! Be it research or be it drafting an intriguing story well knit around cultures, ancestry and lineage. This is a story laden with a stench of revenge wiping generations of generations yet unveiling the roots and connections with the past. A strange story wherein the more we dig the past, the more we get into the future!

Strange as it may sound, the story starts as we get introduced to Khuba and learn how she vanishes without leaving any trace of her existence. The story proceeds as we follow her children who are being safely relocated to Khuba’s maternal clan. The journey they follow and life afterwards is what forms the content of the research work. We land into the current scenario as the research work is being claimed to being deciphered within the closed confines of college lecture theatres. But no, this is not the scale and magnitude of the story, it is much larger in expanse, something which is larger than life canvas.

The story is about Khuba and her journey of life. The more you learn about her, the more mysterious she gets and more enriching the story becomes! Yes, it times, it seemed to be a little complex (for me because I am a Punjabi and had only limited knowledge about the Bangladesh culture and history) but Sudipto has took all the pain and listed all the references (towards theend) to ease down the hunt for more details. It takes generations to transcend the cultures and heritage and further more to unveil and understand them. This is an attempt by Kratu Sen to find his roots to ancestral clan and in the event he learns more about the development of civilizations across ages. He further enriches the readers with varied aspects by touching the notes of linguistic history, architecture, astronomy and complexity of human relations (as defined by social norms).

Set on the plot of his family meeting with an accident and he sets out to find who the real (hidden) culprits are. A thorough effort indeed which commands accolades!

On a lighter note, you will relish the folklores and age old stories, which our grandparents recite to us. They are more than bed-time stories and are rich source of knowledge and enlightment fully loaded with knowledge. Once, you complete reading the book, it will be time to refresh and revive what all your grandparents have shared with you, once you were a child.

The Blurb

 “The Ekkos Clan” is the story of Kratu’s search for the killers of his family, his own roots and the mystery behind his grandmother’s stories.

 

It’s the fascinating account of Kubha and the basketful of folklore she inherited from her ancestors. The eventful lives of Kubha and her family span a hundred years and encompass turbulent phases of Indian history. The family saga unfurls gradually, along with Kubha’s stories, through the three main characters – Kratu Sen, a grad student at Stanford, Kratu’s best friend Tista Dasgupta, and Afsar Fareedi, a linguistic palaeontologist.

 

Afsar hears about Kubha’s stories from Kratu in a casual conversation, but she figures that these stories are not meant to be mere bed time tales – they contain rich linguistic fossils and layers of histories.

 

In a bizarre incident Kratu miraculously survives an attempt on his life. His sister and uncle had not been so lucky. Were these murders acts of revenge, or a larger ideological conflict connected to Kubha’s stories which conceal perilous secrets that should be suppressed?

 

Afsar, Kratu and Tista travel across continents to unravel the mystery of Kubha’s roots and the origin of her stories.

 

At a different level, the novel subtly delves into the origin of one of the oldest civilizations of the world and the first book written by mankind.

 

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Meet the Author

 

Sudipto was born in Calcutta to a family which fled Bangladesh during the partition riots of 1947. He grew up listening horrid stories of the partition, something which he has used extensively in his debut novel The Ekkos Clan. He completed his engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1996. He lives in Bangalore.

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Media Mentions 

“A promising debut in the growing realm of modern Indian fiction” – Jug Suraiya 

“An Indian thriller inspired by Dan Brown & Harrison Ford!… fast-paced thriller, replete with murder and miraculous escapes” – Telegraph 

“If you are a history buff and a thriller aficionado, then [it] might just be the book for you” – The Hindu 

“A tale of the Indian civilization and culture… takes you on a roller coaster ride” – The New Indian Express 

“An interesting read for an afternoon… One feisty woman’s partition story” – Bangalore Mirror 

“Should be read for its sheer aspiration and the intelligent handling of historical material” – The Sunday Guardian 

“Is essentially a mystery novel, but is grounded in a substantial base of research and exploration into our past” – newsyaps.com

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