Dakhma-K Hari Kumar

Book: Dakhma
Author: K Hari Kumar
Publisher: HarperCollins India

Have you heard about a Dakhma?

Dakhma by K. Hari Kumar explores the story of Anahita and Varun, who move into an apartment in Malabar Hill, eager to begin their new life together. Unfortunately, nothing goes as expected and Anahita begins to witness things she cannot explain. After sunset, a presence makes itself known in a manner that leaves Anahita terrified - but determined to find answers. Her search leads to a window named Parizaad: a woman who was haunted by phenomena she believed to be linked to a tower of silence, or Dakhma, that is deeply affected by environmental changes. As Anahita wades further into the mystery around the life and death of Parizaad, she uncovers a devastating secret that threatens many lives.

There are horror stories, and then there are stories that send a chill down your spine, and Dakhma belongs to the second category. The book is a wonderful experience in storytelling and the art of writing a horror story that is chilling yet is devoid of the conventional bells and whistles. From the very first page, Hari manages to draw the reader in, and keeps them hooked till you turn the last page. The primary plot of the story has multiple threads that keep weaving a tale that has horror, politics, and a side of religion, and yet the endgame is surprising until the moment it comes up in the story. The language is simple, easy to understand, and is told in a gripping manner, that keeps the interest alive. Another interesting aspect that I noticed were the reality-adjacent events that help you visualize places and locations, and that adds a wonderful dimension to the story. The climax is excellent and the way the different elements come together to close this story (I hope), was a surprise and I was in awe in the way things changed.

Coming to the characters, the people who are a part of this story have been created in exquisite detail. When you turn the last page, you realize the amount of work the author would have had to do on the characters to create this complex web that connected so many of them, in so much detail. Anahita’s character is a deeply emotional character, one that has deep ties to the story, and I loved how Hari uses multiple events in her past to set up the character arc and at the same time talk about how trauma affects us. Mehr’s character was another surprise and the way she changes from a side character to a main one was interesting to read.

Overall, Dakhma is a story that I would urge you to read, even if you skirt away from the genre, for the brilliant storytelling and a lesson in how to hook a reader between the pages of a book. Be it the cover, the content, the story, the language, or the overall feeling of experiencing the story, the book hits a perfect score for me on all counts, and so it gets a 5/5 on the chart.

This review is a part of the Blogchatter Review Program. 

Get a copy of the book on Amazon India here.