AMISH TRIPATHI’S ‘THE IMMORTALS OF MELUHA.’
Amish Tripathi’s debut novel ‘The Immortals of Meluha’
is the first book of his “Shiva Trilogy.” This is an admirable work by the
author, narrated in the third person point of view. The novel is not a Historical
report but Amish is kind of Humanising the Myth.
The novel says “the
story of the man, whom legend turned into a God.” The story takes place in 1900
BC at the “Sapt Sindhu.” The novelist
argues that this place is what modern Indians “mistakenly” call the Indus
Valley Civilisation. As the synopsis of the book goes; The inhabitants of that
period called it the land of Meluha- a near perfect empire created many
centuries earlier by Lord Ram, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived.
This once proud empire and its Suryavanshi rulers face severe perils as its
primary river, the revered Saraswati, is slowly drying to extinction. They also
face devastating terrorist attacks from the east, the land of Chandravanshis.
To make matters worse, Chandravanshis appear to have allied with the Nagas, an ostracised
and sinister race of deformed humans with astonishing martial skills. The only
hope of Suryavanshis is an ancient legend; “When the evil reaches epic
proportions, when all seems lost, when it appears that your enemies have
triumphed, a hero will come.” And this is how the rough-hewn Tibetan
immigrant Shiva becomes their hero. The novel proceeds through the stream of
consciousness technique. Shiva’s love towards Sati, the daughter of the
Suryavanshi emperor Daksha, Shiva’s dilemma once they conquer the Chandravanshi
dynasty and his conflicts with Nagas, make the novel almost a thriller. I am
not disclosing the whole story of the novel as it has slight twists enough to
make the reader sit and read the whole book at a single go.
Lord Shiva, according
to Hindu Mythology, is considered as the destroyer among the Trinity (where
Brahma is the Creator and Vishnu the preserver). But what we find in the novel
is the Preserver Shiva on whom a whole empire is looking forward for help.
“Will Shiva end up being a destroyer?” is one question that echoes in the
reader’s mind when the novel proceeds towards the end, but to get the answer,
one should finish reading all the three parts of the trilogy. The novel
rationalises the religion through certain stories. Almost every mythical
stories presented to us in the past, in relation to Lord Shiva, are rationally
presented with valid reasons and hence we find it difficult to question the
authority of humanising the myth. The ‘blue neck’ of Lord Shiva and his name,
“Neelkanth” is presented with a different story from the real myth, but it is
justified.
Vivid
characterisation is one notable component of the novel. All the characters have
a mythical base but are at times different from the myth. For instance, Nandi,
according to the myth, is a servant of Lord Shiva. But here the character of
Nandi is an outsider, coming from Meluha and offering Shiva and his tribe a
better life at Meluha (though with a hidden intention) and later becomes
Shiva’s dear friend and servant. Similarly the characters are presented quite
differently from the real myth. One factor that attracted my attention is the
portrayal of strong women characters. The best example is ‘Sati,’ the heroine
who is as brave as the hero. According to the myth, Sati represents “Shakthi”
and hence she is powerful. Here Sati is the daughter of Daksha, which is truly
based on the myth and she is a different woman who is efficient in different
areas such as dance and even in martial arts. Almost all other women characters
are notable. The author has shown justice to all his characters avoiding all
unwanted characters and situations. Every character has his/her importance in
the novel.
Amish is
addressed as “India’s Tolkien” by Business Standard, for his vivid descriptions
throughout the novel. Shiva’s “Tandava” and the love story of Shiva and Sati,
all are presented vividly in an interesting manner. The author introduces to
some basic tenets of human nature when he speaks of the prominent features of
the Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi societies and their differences. Amish
doesn’t crudely say anything in the book. And this is evidently seen from his
descriptions of the places Shiva visits. For convenience, the author has
included map showing India of 1900 BC. There are certain incidents which could
make the reader think deeply and hence can put us into dilemma as Shiva falls
into, towards the last part of the novel. One interesting part is after when
the Suryavanshis triumph in the war and Shiva trying to reason his own activity
of supporting the Suryavanshis. In the 25th chapter of the book
Shiva thinks: “Freedom. Freedom for the wretched to also have dignity.
Something impossible in Meluha’s system of governance.” This is one of the
catchy quotes I could find in the novel which adds on to the dilemma.
Being born
and brought up in a Hindu family, the mythical stories I was acquainted with
were always formal in structure and tone. They received a respectful awe as
they were all on the Lords I worship. Hence when I read Amish first, it comes
as a bit of jolt when Shiva is found swearing “dammit,” “rubbish,” bloody hell”
etc. And the story of him eyeing a woman (Sati) and trying to woo her is also
something entirely opposite of what is known (kind of unacceptable too). But
the reminder that Amish’s Shiva is just a human being as we are, justifies
everything. The novel at times, makes the reader forget that it is a story
taking place in 1900 BC. The well developed infra-structure of towns Shiva
visits, the highly facilitated room arranged for Shiva at Meluha, with attached
bathroom and obviously the terms used by Shiva and other characters at times
affirms this doubt.
An
after-thought that the book leaves the reader with is the interpretation, or
rather the misinterpretation of good and evil. It is a similar dilemma which
the hero is left in too. The book might not occupy the reader’s head with serious
questions on life but it obviously is a populist page-turner. The novel is
presented in an informal style suitable for the intended readers. The author’s
concepts are well-defined in a clear and convincing language. The plot hardly
ever slows down and the reader would never lose interest as one event leads to
another.
‘The Immortals of Meluha,’ by Amish Tripathi, in short, is a perfectly admirable work for its easy and racy narrative style.
- Aparna, R
