The Key is a fantasy thriller, with a nuanced exploration of the challenges of growing up, skilfully captured by Payal Dhar.
Author: Mandira Shah
The book starts with Malhar, bored during the summer holidays and seeking adventure. The adventure presents itself when the Shenoys have a robbery in their house.
The story starts with the reader getting introduced to Rabia and her cat observing the world, as she questions everything around her. Reflecting her own desires and her quest to seek answers, when asked to draw a scientist, she draws a woman-scientist. But who ever knew of a woman-scientist?
The princess, Vasundhara, was getting married. And the house was full. Only, there was one little problem. The groom, Ravi, was kidnapped. And to make things worse, the kidnapper has asked for the Fire of the East as ransom.
The writer tells a captivating story of a young boy who grew up in extreme poverty and hopelessness, and of his eventual rise as a leader known as Bhagwan Birsa. He not only united all the Mundas, who referred to themselves as Birsaites, but instilled a sense of fear in the British so deep, that they had to gather all their forces to try and capture him.
Whoever collects the most eesals, would get to do what they liked for one day. They know better than to step inside the deep forests, but Maithili knows that if they step inside, with the abundance of eesals there, they would win easily. Even if they all know it’s an idea that has not been thought through, with much reluctance, Minotaur, Wolfhoud and Nagesh agree. After all, what could go wrong?
Unfortunately, everything does.