Vitasta would like to thank Professor Dinesh Srivastava, Homi Bhabha Chair at The National Institute of Advanced Studies for this wonderful review of our book – 'Jivaka the Child who Healed' by Malavika Kapur!

'My most pleasant memories include sitting around a fire on a winter night and listening to our grandmother tell stories. She told them beautifully, describing the jewels kings wore, the dresses of queens, the palaces, the dialogues, the little ditties associated with the stories- creating wonderful images in our remote rural house.

I remember only two books which I have read continuosly- without a break to sleep, and continuing to read while eating- Kaurie Diye Keenlam (in Hindi) by Bimal Mitra and The Far Pavilion by M. M. Kaye. It is after a very long time that I have read a most engrossing and unputdownable book in the same continuous manner.

"Jivaka the child who healed" by Malvika Kapur is a most unusual book and most engrossing third book in the list. It has the smoothness of slightly hot oil flowing over your body on a cold morning. I do have a weakness for historical and mythological novels.

This novel combines history, mythology, ayurvedic practice, dreams, and reincarnations along with the beauty, majesty, and timeless charm of the Ganges and the Himalayas, and looks like a result of deep learning, near-divine insights, twists of any great story, and victory of values at its core.

And it displays a great love for Indian traditions.

As the cover tells, "Jivaka's fifteen-year-old mother, Vatsayani, seduces the scholar sage Richika to father her child. The child becomes a disciple of Kashyapa, who is a renowned healer of children. To prove his merit, the five-year-old Jivaka is forced by veterans to enter the River Ganges. Jivaka emerges from the water as a great healer himself. The story connects seamlessly to a modern-day Jivaka who is training to be a paediatrician. The novel attempts to bring to life childcare in ancient India—developed around the Kashyapa Samhita, the only text of Ayurvedic paediatric medicine in existence today."

I am most lucky to be introduced to this wonderful book by the author herself.

While there are many novels around ancient historical events I have not read any- woven around pediatric ayurveda in such detail and retaining such accuracy without getting dry.

Arogya Niketan by Tara Shanker Bandyopadhyay brought the pain of conflict of an Ayurveda practitioner with modernity, the present one connects it seamlessly with modern times.

It is a victory of faith and truth.'

https://www.amazon.in/dp/9382711112?ref=myi_title_dp

https://www.flipkart.com/jivaka/p/itmdppstjar8nnzg?pid=9789382711117