Chorashastra

Book excerpt: Hoping to break out of his coconut-robbing father's petty legacy and strike it big, a small-time thief breaks into the house of an eccentric professor. A strong believer in the theory that early Indian civilisations were scientifically advanced, the professor spends his days salvaging ancient texts, long forgotten or overlooked by scholars of present times. On the night of the break-in, he is immersed in Chorashastra, a manuscript rendered brittle and yellow by centuries, that holds within its pages mind-boggling tips and tricks for thieves- most incredibly, the ability to open a lock by just looking at it. He hails the arrival of the thief as a sign and decides to test its theories on him. Thus begin the amazing adventures of a thief. As vault after vault yield to his subtle gaze, his wantonness and hubris leap to the skies. Known for his subversive plots and narrative devices that mark a clear departure from contemporary Malayalam storytelling, V.J. James's Chorashastra tells a gripping story of untethered ambition and the inevitable chase between crime and justice.