Sudhi - Kannan : An Elephantic Adventure - Review

Sudhi is a common ten year old notorious kid. Kannan is a common cool dad. Boss is a common mind bending terrorist. School is hectic, Work is crazy, so Sudhi and Kannan decide to bunk a day off from their routine lives. The trip is to the Elephanta Island located a few kilometres away from the coast of Mumbai. There is a surprise waiting for them in the form of three novice terrorists. As you read this, they are heading towards the island to capture it. It seems possible, since Boss knows a trick or two with hypnosis. Beware, the Coast Guard will be undercover. Hypnotized soldiers will take over the island. Bullets will rip through the night sky and a ten year old boy is about to change the course of every fool proof plan. This adventure is going to be a blast. You are invited.

About the Author
Krishna Raj H.K. wants to know more about writing. True, he has done his schooling from The Indian School-Bahrain. He has completed graduation from S.I.E.S-Navi Mumbai and holds a P.G. Diploma from I.I.P.M-Mumbai.
A few years down the line, he begins to feel that there are uncharted territories when it comes to communication and word play ... or is it just Pink Floyd?

An adventure novel, filled with dosage of humour, and bullet-ripping action; sounds like an interesting combo. Yeah, for sure.

And that was one primary reason I picked up this book to read. ‘Sudhi Kannan: An Elephantic Adventure’ promised to be everything that would strike the chords of a voracious reader like me – drama, adventure, thrill and the chase. The cover, bright and attractive, invites you towards it, promising you on an adventure, an Elephantic one, which you wouldn’t like to miss. At least, I didn’t, and thus I started turning over the pages, one chapter at a time, slowly, gradually.

The protagonists of the story, as the name suggests, are Sudhi, a ten year old notorious kid, and his father, Kannan. Kannan performs the role of a single parent, and is more of a friend to Sudhi than a preaching guardian. The father-son camaraderie is very well portrayed in the piece, and their constant banter and funny conversations often makes you smile. In fact, the book starts of as a light read, and the father-son duo is successful, to a certain extent, in catching hold of your attention straight away.

The adventure begins when Sudhi and Kannan decide to skip the hectic lives of school and work, respectively, and relish a trip to the Elephanta Island, located near the coast of Mumbai. Pooja, Sudhi’s school friend, and her mother, Megha, too join them, and the day promises to be a good relaxing experience. However, things do not turn out as expected, and soon they find themselves trapped in a villainous scheme where they are taken as hostages by Boss, a terrorist who excels in the art of hypnotism, and his aides. Ransom is demanded, and the adventure progresses.

The plot speaks smartly of uniqueness, with characters like Sudhi and Kannan, who are so different from the regular fares that we read about. Thus, we can see that the book has a lot of positives that the author can carry forward for his next venture.

Unfortunately, it also has a few flaws that comes out as a hindrance to the flow of this story. The author takes his time to build up the events, and that somehow slows down the pace of the narration. True, characterization and shaping up the plot is a key ingredient in every story, but the recipe should have been taken care of as well. What happens here is that the story seems to lag behind in places, and that’s certainly not a good thing when the genre is young adventure.

Also, several chapters appeared to be an extension of the previous ones. The result was that I felt like reading over the same thing again, with of course, a few differences. A better editing would have been appreciated, and definitely it could have led to a more compact and polished product.

However, the author surely exudes a lot of confidence in adopting a unique plot so early in his writing career. My guess is that 'Sudhi Kannan: An Elephantic Adventure' is just the beginning, the start, of a series of adventures revolving around this pair. If the author decides to come out with a sequel, I would love to get hold of it. However, as I already mentioned, a better job by the editors will surely do wonders, and I will be hoping for that in near future.

Title: Sudhi - Kannan : An Elephantic Adventure

Author: Krishna

Publisher: Blackbuck Publication

Publication Year: 2013

Language: English

Binding: Paperback

Genre: Fiction, Adventure

No. of Pages: 292

Price: Rs 180

My Rating: 2/5