The story of the book revolves around, Jay Malhotra, a banker by profession and a strong character of the story sets out on an adventure to manipulate the unregulated art market of the Navaratnas. The art world is dominated by powerful and aggressive dealers, experts and gallery owners and when Jay sets his foot in, he goes through the innumerable challenges and struggles.
Priya Malhotra Aka Patty is a fiercely competitive art dealer who greatly dominates the field of art. However, she uses her charm to manipulate votes in her favour and she uses men for other benefits. Both Jay & Patty are manipulative in nature and set terms of their own to achieve success. Their relationship is as fickle as their nature.
Biswas & Arun are the characters who change the entire course of the novel as the story progresses. Biswas is an art enthusiast and he has a great knowledge of arts. Biswas holds a great respect for arts and nothing can manipulate him once he decides on something.
In order to become a leader in the art market, Jay makes a plan to use Patty and Biswas to his advantage. Will Jay be successful in his plan? Will he be able to become a leader in an unregulated art market? How will the art market respond once Biswas reveals his actual identity?
Kalayug has an excellent plot written by the author Anurag Tripathi with minimal characters. The author has smartly evolved his characters with a unique story. His in-depth knowledge about the art market and business reflects in the story. Who would have thought about the storyline around Navaratnas of art market other than the author? He represents a story as if an insider, who knows in & out about unregulated, distorted and manipulated art market.
The title of the novel aptly describes the cruel facts about the art industry. It represents the art world which is as manipulative as human nature. Each character gives you a slice of their life as in today’s time no relationship is based firm beliefs or principles. Every character portrayed in the story is so manipulative in nature that the question of trust continuously arises. It keeps you wondering about the real culprits till the end of the story.
Kalayug has immaculately captured the conflict between human egos and ambitions. The plot is simple yet very intriguing and never loses its grip from the first chapter to the end. The end of the novel leaves you dumbstruck with a storm of questions in your mind.
About the author
Anurag Tripathi is a debutant author. He worked for 18 years in a corporate environment, before deciding to become a full-time writer. His first novel, Kalayug has been published by Rupa Publications in India. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ramjas College, University of Delhi, and a Post Graduate diploma in Business Administration from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India.
In 2015, he completed a course in Advanced Creative Writing from the University of Oxford. He lives in Paris along with his wife. Both are avid divers who like travelling and exploring the world lesser known. He is currently, finishing his second novel.