{"product_id":"1lkr78hix5y3","title":"Shatranj by Arindam Chattyopadhyay [Paperback]","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTwo hundred and eighty-eight billion!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat’s approximately the number of possible board positions after the first four moves in chess. It’s impossible to confine such immense possibilities within just sixty-four squares.\u003cbr\u003eThat’s why the game extends beyond the board—spreading into the world around us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this game, the \u003cem\u003emango people\u003c\/em\u003e (the common masses) are nothing more than pawns. Their movement is straightforward—one step at a time. They cannot move backward. They block paths, raise fists in protests, and chant slogans. Sometimes, an invisible string pulls them to the highest seat of power!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut who are the knights of this game—the ones who move in unpredictable L-shaped leaps? They are the immensely powerful \u003cem\u003emedia\u003c\/em\u003e. Messengers who are untouchable, often hailed as the \"fourth pillar of democracy.\" With their unorthodox moves, they tear through the well-groomed gardens of the system. They point fingers at both the oppressor and the oppressed, with equal defiance. In the damp disorder of anarchy, they spread like fungi.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen there are the ones who silently prowl the corridors of power, hunting in the shadows—\u003cem\u003ethe bureaucrats\u003c\/em\u003e. They are the bishops, sometimes the rooks—figures of far-reaching influence. Their strikes often descend from behind the cover of clouds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTowering over all of them is the \u003cem\u003eMinister\u003c\/em\u003e—drunk on power, arrogant, formidable. To overcome obstacles, he relies on his knights (\u003cem\u003eread: the media\u003c\/em\u003e), to expand influence, he uses the bishops and rooks. To shield himself or to make a dramatic return, he manipulates the humble pawns. He alone knows one truth: everyone is dispensable—except him. While guarding the powerless king’s throne, he is actually plotting his own victory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmid this web of intricate strategies and shifting battle formations, conflicts of various scales unfold. History testifies—every battle is ultimately a struggle for power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd \u003cem\u003eShatranj\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of one such battle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the dark alleys of Dharsa to Karachi’s crime-ridden Chanesar Goth, from Delhi’s Ganesh Nagar to Baruipur’s bustling bazaars, from America’s Lost Knife Circle to Lahore’s Mochi Gate—this story spreads like a finely woven net.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhose story is this? Yours? Mine? Ours?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo find the answer, you must unfold the intricate chessboard of \u003cem\u003eShatranj\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003eOr perhaps that’s the wrong question.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaybe \u003cem\u003eShatranj\u003c\/em\u003e won’t provide all the answers. Maybe, it will leave you with more questions than answers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWho controls the game? Who really wins?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e…And most importantly—\u003cstrong\u003ewhich piece are you?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Biva Publication","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48327803175162,"sku":"1LKR78HIX5Y3","price":247.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0704\/0473\/5226\/files\/1LKR78HIX5Y3_Cover_1.jpg?v=1739162314","url":"https:\/\/versoz.co.in\/products\/1lkr78hix5y3","provider":"VERSOZ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}