Any attempt to define the ‘meaning’ of monsoon takes me on a retrospective journey. Back in childhood, it meant an all-night cacophony of frogs, paper boats, squeaky slippers, and even a bout of cold. Bangalore and I have grown since then. Bangalore is now (in)famous for its traffic snarls and potholes. After-school playtime is now after-work travel back home. Monsoon in Bangalore now means many added layers of dread, not to mention the missing frogs! Muck is not the only thing making a splash—news is splashed with flooded roads, inundated homes, and apathy of civic bodies.
It’s monsoon. Devyani’s school in Bangalore is flooded and closed until further notice. Together with her brother, Sarang, and cousin, Nakul, they are the Seekers, a mystery-solving trio who have no case to solve besides retrieving a very special rock from Devyani’s desk in school. Devyani’s mother, Dr. Brinda Ratnagar, is a water resource expert working on a high-profile project in Hampi. The Seekers tag along. Someone wants
Dr. Ratnagar off the project and silenced. Thus, the mystery begins. An apt case for the Seekers to solve!
Mala Kumar’s The Missing Rocks of Hampi skillfully weaves two mysteries—one set in the time of the Vijayanagar Empire, and the other in the present that the Seekers are after. The ingenious engineering feats of the Vijayanagar empire in harvesting rainwater, transporting water from the foothills to the heart of the kingdom, and urban planning form the warp of this tale. Mala takes you on a walk along the grand streets of Hampi: the bustling marketplace, the queen’s hammams, the palace garden, the stables, and the aqueducts quenching the need for water.
As mystery unfolds across timelines keeping the reader hooked, history conspicuously comes alive. The true charm of the book lies in its ability to place history and architecture in an all-too-relatable and contemporary context of urban planning and resource allocation. History taught in schools carries with it baggage that often renders it ‘outdated’ or ‘boring’. Mala’s attempt to strip history of that baggage and contextualize it for a young audience is commendable.
While I relive the nostalgia of the monsoon from my past, The Missing Rocks of Hampi offers a peek into what history could mean to the present, a reminder that history, much like the monsoon, is never that far away.