Kalayug - By Anurag Tripathi

The plot \n\nJay Malhotra, a banker by profession and a strong character of the story sets out on an adventure to manipulate the unregulated art market of the Navaratnas. The art world is dominated by powerful and aggressive dealers, experts and gallery owners and when Jay sets his foot in, he goes through the innumerable challenges and struggles. Priya Malhotra Aka Patty is a fiercely competitive art dealer who greatly dominates the field of art. However, she uses her charm to manipulate votes in her favor and she uses men for other benefits. Both Jay & Patty are manipulative in nature and set terms of their own to achieve success. Their relationship is as fickle as their nature.\n\nBiswas & Arun are the characters who change the entire course of the novel as the story progresses. Biswas is an art enthusiast and he has a great knowledge of arts. Biswas holds a great respect for arts and nothing can manipulate him once he decides on something.\n\nIn order to become a leader in the art market, Jay makes a plan to use Patty and Biswas to his advantage. Will Jay be successful in his plan? Will he be able to become a leader in an unregulated art market? How will the�art market respond once Biswas reveals his actual identity?\n\nMy review\n\nKalayug has an excellent plot written by the author Anurag Tripathi with minimal characters. The author has smartly evolved his characters with a�unique story. His in-depth knowledge about the�art market and business reflects in the story. Who would have thought about the storyline around Navaratnas of art market other than the author? He represents a story as if an insider, who knows in & out about unregulated, distorted and manipulated art market.\n\nThe title of the novel aptly describes the cruel facts about the art industry. It represents the art world which is as manipulative as human nature. Each character gives you a slice of their life as in today�s time no relationship is based firm beliefs or principles. Every character portrayed in the story is so manipulative in nature that the question of trust continuously arises. It keeps you wondering about the real culprits till the end of the story.\n\nKalayug has immaculately captured the conflict between human egos and ambitions. The plot is simple yet very intriguing and never loses its grip from the�first chapter to the end. The end of the novel leaves you dumbstruck with a storm of questions in your mind.\n\nThe Best Part \n\nThe plot takes you the era of Navaratnas and gives you crucial insights of the art world. The extremely unique story is the strong element. Author�s knowledge about two strikingly different fields such as financial and art market is very impressive. He plays well with numbers as well as the strokes of colors.\n\nThe No-So Good Part� \n\nNone.\n\nThe writing style \n\nThe author applies his entire knowledge of business as well as art field in order to come up with such a strong storyline. He leaves no stone unturned to impress his readers with his knowledge that reflects in his writing. Uncomplicated writing paves a way to the great story.\n\nBook cover & the title \n\nA man standing in middle of the street while a constant flow of cars streaming on the road is what Kalayug�is all about. The golden color depicts the glamour of the art market whereas black is evident of the�darker side. The book cover not only testifies the Kalayug era but the title fits the storyline too.\n

The book is strongly recommended & worth keeping in your collection!

\nAbout the author \n\nAnurag Tripathi, is a debutant author. He worked for 18 years in a corporate environment, before deciding to become a full time writer. His first novel, Kalayug has been published by Rupa Publications in India. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ramjas College, University of Delhi, and a Post Graduate diploma in Business Administration from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India.\nIn 2015, he completed a course in Advanced Creative Writing from the University of Oxford. He lives in Paris along with his wife. Both are avid divers who like�travelling and exploring the world lesser known. He is currently, finishing his second novel.