From Lustus to Craza
It is interesting as well as intriguing to enter into Anand's mind through his epics. The entire space is occupied by ethereal personages like God, Brahma, Indra, Vishnu, Lord Krishna, Satan, Mephistopheles, Faustus, etc. And, the atmosphere is marked by high seriousness and a sense of the sublime.
By the time Dr. Anand comes to write 'Lustus: The Prince of Darkness', he was reluctant to cast Satan as the villain in his Mahakaal Trilogy, as Satan was a gentleman villain who was afraid of God's power. He tempted Eve by deception. Anand needed a thoroughbred villain of the modern world who could sustain interest for generations. Therefore, in 'Lustus', Anand created a villain before whom even Satan appears a monk. Anand also creates Greda, the goddess of Greed. The grandeur of 'Lustus' lies in two fierce battles he fought and lost against gods in 'Lustus' and 'The Dominion of the Netherworld'. Dr. Anand's quest for the sublime continues through 'The Ultronic Age', where political power is handed over to Queen Ultronia because the gods had realized that it was due to the patriarchal superiority of men that the previous epochs saw bloody battles and manslaughter, as we come across in the Ramayana in Treta, the Mahabharata in Dwapara, and the War of Troy in Kaliyuga.
In 'The Alternate Universe', Craza proposes an AI-driven alternate universe where humans are digitally enhanced. Craza's concepts of removing the past of man, womb labs, and keeping humanity morally upright with AI intervention are daringly forward-looking, investing technology with a spiritual responsibility and making Craza a Neo-Prophet of the Digital Age.
Dr. Anand's latest work grapples with the intersection of technology, spirituality, and human existence. Craza represents a bold evolution from Lustus, who was an embodiment of corporate evil. 'Anand's work reflects a profound engagement with the ethical and spiritual challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI) and modernity, making him a modern counterpart to epic poets like Milton or Vyasa, but with a distinctly futuristic lens.' Craza's proposal for an 'Overlap' facility, replacing the traditional divisions of heaven and hell, can be seen as a nuanced view of morality where ambiguity is acknowledged rather than punished because this world of overlapping morality is closer to the reality of the modern world of technology. Through 'Lustus', he critiques the corporate and moral decay of the modern world, while Craza in 'The Alternate Universe' extends this exploration into speculative or chaotic realms. By merging Eastern and Western traditions, Anand creates a universal narrative that offers an ethical and spiritual landscape for a contrivance like AI to seek man's salvation, rather than work for his destruction. Craza's entry as a potential mouthpiece of AI is a welcome departure from the usual condemnation of AI. His work not only revives the epic form but also establishes him as a global literary figure, walking in the footsteps of Milton, Tagore, and other greats.
(Dr. Maja Herman Sekulic, a Serbian-US Poet and Schlar is a Nobel-nominee, Princeton Ph.D and a Double Fulbright Fellow)
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