Ashwin Sanghi

Ashwin Sanghi
File:Ashwin Sanghi.jpg
Occupation	Novelist, Entrepreneur
Alma mater	Yale University
Genre	Thriller, Mystery fiction
Website
http://www.shawnhaigins.com/

Ashwin Sanghi (born January 25, 1969) is an Indian author of thriller fiction, best known for his 2007 novel, The Rozabal Line. Sanghi is interested in the lost years of Jesus, the primary theme theme of his first novel which hypothesizes that Jesus survived the crucifixion and traveled to India. The Rozabal Line was originally published in 2007 under his pseudonym Shawn Haigins. The revised edition of The Rozabal Line was published by Westland Ltd. & Tranquebar Press in 2008 under his own name.

Biographical Sketch

Ashwin Sanghi was born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, the youngest of three children. His schooling was at the Cathedral and John Connon School (Class of 1985). After graduating from Cathedral in 1985 Sanghi attended St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He went on to attend the Yale School of Management from where he received an M.B.A. in 1993. After graduating from Yale, Sanghi joined his family's business enterprise while continuing to write thriller fiction part-time.

First Novel

The Rozabal Line

The Rozabal Line deals with the subject of Jesus having survived the crucifixion and having settled down and died in India, eventually being buried in Roza Bal. The fictional element is much like Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code whereas the historical basis is derived from several other books on the subject including Jesus Lived in India by Holger Kersten and The Unknown Life of Jesus by Nicolas Notovich. According to Tehelka, an Indian left wing news magazines, The Rozabal Line is "a thriller that inquires into the controversial claim that Jesus Christ travelled to India and was buried in Kashmir’s Rozabal Tomb". The Hindu, one of India's National dailies, says that "The book deals in greater depth with the issue of Christ’s union with Mary Magdalene touched upon by The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown as well as incorporating postulates of several other books including Jesus Lived in India: Life Before and After the Crucifixion by Holger Kersten and Jesus Died In Kashmir: Jesus, Moses and The Ten Lost Tribes Of Israel by Andreas Kaiser". Since the time the novel was published, there has been a huge upsurge of visitors to the Rozabal shrine in Srinagar as reported by the Indian newspapers. The book's publishers, Westland Ltd. have had tremendous success with the novel and it has gone into repeat runs. The novel also succeeded in creating a historical/mythological thriller genre in India that Indian writers had not hitherto explored. Pradeep Sebastian, of The Hindu, wrote "And so The Lost Symbol comes two years too late. Conspiracy thrillers swamped the market, reaching even Indian shores with The Rozabal Line, and offered us so much meat, that we couldn’t relish chewing anymore.". At a talk delivered in Chennai, the author explained that "We assume the different faiths are distinctly different, but once you start tracing back the roots of their beliefs, you find their origins are much closer that you might imagine.". Irrespective of the controversial theme surrounding his book, the author has continuously maintained that his book is a work of fiction and should be read as a fiction conspiracy thriller. In an interview to a leading tabloid, the author was asked "Do you believe that Jesus lived in India?" and he replied "I don't think it's in any way relevant if he came here or not. But do I wish it was true? Yes, completely. Isn't that such a romantic notion?". MV Kamath, leading commentator has said that the book is "provocative, but certainly commanding attention.".

Real Life Similarities to the Novel

The Hindustan Times was the first to point out that, Sanghi's novel bore several similarities to the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. In particular, Sanghi's novel spoke of an attack by the Lashkar-e-Taiba an Islamist terror group based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It also spoke of the Lashkar spinning off an ultra-elite group of twelve commandos, similar to the Deccan Mujahideen. The plot of The Rozabal Line used a ship off the coast of Gujarat as well as a Thuraya satellite phone besides describing the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower as the residence of one of the main characters in the story. Sanghi also described the group as being controlled by the Inter-Services Intelligence of Pakistan without the knowledge of the Pakistani president. All these elements were purportedly present in the November 2008 Mumbai Terror Attacks.

Shawn Haigins

The first edition of The Rozabal Line was published in 2007 in the U.S. under Sanghi's pseudonym Shawn Haigins. Shawn Haigins is a perfect anagram of the name Ashwin Sanghi. Some commentators such as Humra Quraishi felt that the book should have been published under Sanghi's real name and consequently the substantially revised 2008 edition was published in India by Sanghi under his own name.

Second Novel

Chanakya's Chant

Chanakya's Chant is a fictional retelling of the life of Chanakya the great political strategist of ancient India. The novel relates two stories in parallel, the first of Chanakya and his machinations to bring Chandragupta Maurya to the throne of Magadha; the second, that of a modern-day character called Gangasagar Mishra who makes it his ambition to position a slum child as the Prime Minister of India. According to the Hindustan Times, "Keep the internal monologues and descriptions as taut as a-held-by-the-thumb sacred thread and we have Ashwin Sanghi's cracker of a page turner, Chanakya's Chant. Two narratives flow like the Ganga and Yamuna, one located 2300 years ago in the kingdom of Magadha where Chanakya seeks and gets his vengeance; the other in the slightly distant future (the 18th prime minister is being sworn in before the narrative goes into flashback) where Gangasagar Mishra gets down and dirty to play the kingmaker in India's politics. Sanghi peppers his novel with quotes from folks as disparate as Benjamin Franklin, Oscar Wilde and Mao Zedong but for the reader of this brisk technicoloured thriller, here's a book that will be familiar in its details for all desi observers of politics and the psycho-drama behind it all."

References

• Blogcritics Magazine. Review by Friend Mouse', December 2, 2007.
• Bookreporter.com. Review by J. Kaye Oldner.
• ForeWord Clarion. Review by Todd Mercer.
• J. Kaye's Book Blog. Review by Steve Oldner, December 18, 2007.
• MBR Bookwatch. Dunford's Bookshelf, December 2008.
• TCM Reviews. Review by Shannon Frost.
• Tomb of Jesus. Interview on Tomb of Jesus.

External links

• Ashwin Sanghi Official Website
• Westland Ltd. & Tranquebar Press
• Reviews of Ashwin Sanghi's books at Bookrack India
• Review of Ashwin Sanghi's 'Rozabal line' by author Faraaz Kazi