The Aryabhata Clan

The Islamic State has spread its tentacles in India, penetrating stealthily into the academia, media and politics. The mastermind is Shamsur Ali, a physicist from Bangladesh. To destabilize India, he wants to create a sort of apocalypse, which the 21-year-old Kubha must prevent at any cost, come what may. In a brazen attempt at legitimizing the demolition of one of the most prominent historical structures in India, someone—unbelievably, it could be both Hiranyagarbha Bharata, a radical Hindu outfit, and the Islamic State—resorts to a big deceit. Afsar Fareedi, a linguistic paleontologist, catches the fraud. In the melee, there are three gruesome murders, including that of her father, perhaps to eliminate all traces of a carpet which, Afsar discovers, has a lot hidden in its mysterious motifs. At the centre of all this is a verse composed by the maverick mathematician, Aryabhata, some 1,500 years ago.

Sudipto Das

An alumnus of IIT KGP, Sudipto Das is a successful entrepreneur, author, musician, columnist and a speaker at TED events. A violinist, trained in Western classical music, Sudipto debuted as a music composer in 2014. History, culture, language, writing and music are of special interest to him. Member of an amateur music band, Kohal, he also enjoys travelling. This is his third novel. Sudipto lives in Bangalore with his family.