Decoding unfathomable mysteries
Reviewed by Balwinder Kaur

The Lost Fragrance
by Amit Dasgupta.
Wisdom Tree. Pages 216. Rs 195

Fearful of the unfathomable horrors that could befall them; no one even dares to talk out loud about the dangerous far-off place which is shrouded in mystery. But an old schoolmaster is forced to acknowledge that this dark place is neither myth nor legend but actually exists. In a mysterious recurrent dream, an old flute player urges him to make preparations to help a special little girl who will travel to this very place: The Land of the Blue Jasmine.

The salvation of many hinges upon her defeating the powerful malevolent presence which has obscured the stars from the sky and robbed the jasmine of its fragrance. But this baffling dream raises a number of questions: Who is the girl? Why her? How will she find this place? Who all must she fight? How will she do it? But undaunted by the baffling ambiguities surrounding this quest, the old man enthusiastically and diligently labours to facilitate the journey of this unidentified heroine.

Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of the village, the Awaited One is amongst them. Shunned by the other children and ignored by most grownups, there lives a lonely orphan who battles deprivation and pines for her deceased parents. She would like nothing better than to fly up to the skies in the old schoolmaster's gigantic colourful balloon and see God and her beloved parents. But instead, she must embark on a dangerous mission armed only with her pure heart, noble intent, determination, vague recollections of parental advice and her father's flute. While unexpected assistance from courageous well-wishers aids her journey, there are many troublesome obstacles and daunting challenges to overcome. Evil lurks everywhere sowing dissent, discord and mayhem as the minions of the two-headed serpent scurry about to ensure nothing disturbs his evil reign.

As foretold by the opening paragraph, "Once upon a time there lived..." the book tells a tale reminiscent of the many far-fetched fantastical stories that enthral children everywhere. Strange magical places, creatures and occurrences abound; endowing it with a surreal fairytale feel, where the most bizarre unbelievable things can and do happen with unsettling frequency and speed. Magical windows display far off events; mouth-watering delicacies materialise out of thin air. There are sentient balloons, talking crows, shape shifters, serpentine fauna, the undead and so on and so forth. But these all rest on the bedrock of adult issues. There is struggle of good and evil, ever-challenging mind over matter, the inevitability of love and loss and, finally, every individual's own life journey filled with revelations, challenges and self discovery.

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