The doctrine of liberation through fiction

"If salvation can be bought, then why does one need to try so hard to reach God?"
Cartoonist, journalist and author Ravi Shankar Etteth prefers to moot the question and let it hover on the subconscious as readers make way through the 250-odd pages of his fifth book, "The Book of Shiva", but does not spell out an answer.
Etteth's work of fiction released here recently is the journey through the Himalayas of Asananda, a monk from Rishikesh, to find the book of Shiva which he says would be his 'dakshina' to his guru, Gyanananda.
"The story is about a monk who starts walking from Rishikesh to the Himalayas, the people he meets on the way and how he resolves their problems, agonies or mistakes and becomes a vessel of the guru's grace himself," says the author.

"To put it in a nutshell, the book is the doctrine of liberation. The doctrine of being freed not from the things you have done but to understand those things and become freed through that understanding," says Etteth.
The author insists that it's for him to ask questions and for the readers to find answers. What sets the book apart is the narration that flows like a travelogue, the simplicity with which attempts have been made to deliberate upon some of the most complex emotions and human interactions and the characters and events Asananda, the protagonist, comes across on his journey, leaving a mark in their lives and borrowing a few from them in the process.

Thus, Asananda comes across a boatwoman who is constantly being asked by aghoris (outcasts among holy men) to have sex with them, a priest at a remote Ganesha temple, a sadhu in saffron and his white karma bull-all from the mountains and all of whom assist him in his quest to unearth the mystery of the book of Shiva.

"It is the guru's grace which opens doors for you and without the guru, there's no path forward", says Etteth, who insists that he does not know how to write philosophy.
"Anybody who teaches you something is a guru. Then, there is the ultimate guru which is Shiva. The guru is a very mysterious person. His or her intentions are never very clear until you really understand and then, you become the guru. That is the philosophy of the book," he adds.

The monk walks on. On his journey, as he turns one page after the other, the book unravels itself. And as the journey concludes, questions and answers start falling in place.
Published by Harper Collins, the paperback edition "The Book of Shiva" is priced at Rs 299.