Moving to Goa was much like transitioning to another dimension. Each day brought new encounters and new experiences. One such was meeting Dr Ashok Saxena.
One morning when I went to the little shop near where we now live, I was introduced to a dapper gentleman with an elegant goatee. And was thrilled to learn that he was a doctor. An orthopaedic surgeon by profession, Ashok turned out to be a man of many interests. That morning I only got a glimpse of one of the many facets of this versatile soul.
He very candidly told me, an utter stranger, that he had written a book - a story about an encounter with an alien.
Dr Saxena very kindly gave me a preview and I was thus plunged into an exciting world of adventure, scripture and science.
The book has 14 chapters, two appendices, a glossary and a bibliography - all that we must expect given the author is a medical professional. And yet this is a book for the layperson, for the masses so to speak.
Where the idea of a preface can be such that many tend to skip the section, in this case it is a must read - an essential part of the narrative structure.
And then there is the first chapter that has the appropriate shock value to get you hooked to the story: I FOUND MY FATHER DEAD ...
After that it is an exciting journey through Europe, from the high Alps to all the famous monuments of the continent and more - all the while keeping the reader glued to the tantalising thread of the story of a human-alien relationship of sorts.
After consuming this exotic tale, you have the two appendices that are rich in resources and insights. Appendix A covers calculations with explanations while Appendix B takes the reader through concepts from India's historical past that could possibly relate to science as we now know it.
All in all, the book is the author's attempt to reach out to the masses to make it easy to engage with the worlds of science and scripture.
