Fiji National University academic launches third book
The book is called pursuing Divinity in Paradise.
The Fiji National University (FNU) academic, Prashneel Goundar, this month, launched his third book titled: Pursuing Divinity in Paradise.
The book is a reflection on the two Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Launching the book, the Head of Language and Literature Department, Mark Hewson at FNU’s College of Humanities and Education said: “Prashneel Goundar’s Pursuing Divinity in Paradise is an insightful and sincere reflection on the relevance of Hindu traditions to contemporary life. It is sure to appeal to readers looking to renew the moral and spiritual aspects of their lives’.
Mr Goundar is a lecturer in Language at FNU’s Natabua Campus in Lautoka. Pursuing Divinity in Paradise (2020) was published in Suva by Pacific Studies Press and is being sold at $20 a copy.
Copies can be obtained by emailing the author directly on prgoundar@gmail.com.
As a former student of Swami Vivekananda College (SVC) in Nadi, Mr Goundar stated that the school’s motto ‘Arise Awake and Stop Not till the Goal is Reached’ is what motivated him to continue working on his book despite some unfortunate events that transpired during the course of writing.
This was his dream project that began in 2016 and finished in 2019. During the writing of this book he lost his grandmother, then in 2018, his mother was diagnosed with Bone Marrow Cancer and after fighting a long battle with it, she passed away in New Delhi, India, this January at the age of 56. Thus, the book is dedicated to his mother.
Pursuing Divinity in Paradise was only possible due to the collective effort by a few colleagues who have worked closely with Mr Goundar previously.
Professor Subramani of the University of Fiji said: “We are living in a world of near-complete mayhem.
“The planet is deluged by dark thoughts of dystopia, and death of truth and meaning, encroachment of Infotech and Biotech revolutions, and digital dictatorships.” Mr Goundar is working on two collaborative research projects with international scholars and his fourth book that will be published in 2022.