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The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi
Publisher: Westland
Cover Price Rs. 295
Pp: 445
Reviewed by Gopinath Mavinkurve
Twitter id: @gopinathmm
Although I had no particular liking for history, historical anecdotes and stories with a message have always attracted and influenced me in childhood. It was indeed accidental that my wish to meet the adorable columnist, Bachi Karkaria happened to draw me to TOI’s First Literature Festival at Mumbai. In the opening session, titled “Mythology Redux”, I heard Amish Tripathi, author of “The Immortals of Meluha” and Ashwin Sanghi, author of “The Rosabal Line” and “Chanakya’s Chant” share with the audience their writing experiences and views about the scope of books based on mythological figures and subjects, which has seen an exponential growth in recent times. I was also fortunate to have a quiet little chat with Amish after the session.
In my last post, I had reviewed the book “Chanakya’s Chant” by Ashwin Sanghi.
In this post, I present my views on
Amish Tripathi’s “The Immortals of Meluha”.
The book is a fictional account of the life of Lord Shiva, as we revere him today, on planet earth! As the author asks readers at the very outset, what if the belief that the Mahadev, the God of Gods had really been a living person on earth – flesh and blood, and had been risen to the well-deserved godlike being only by his karma in his lifetime? The story begins with this premise in 1900 BC at Mansarovar Lake at the foot of Mount Kailash. The story begins with Shiva taking up the responsibility of the safety and protection of the Gunas - the people to whom he belonged, who were threatened by the acts of terrorism by the Pakratis, who indulge in killing women and children instead of waging regular wars with Guna warriors. The Gunas are fortunate to have the Meluhans, an organised civil force as compared to the tribal traits of the Gunas, to help combat the evil forces of the Pakratis. So when an invitation from the Meluhans to their land comes their way, the Gunas find the offer too good to refuse, albeit that would mean giving up their own land and access to the rivers and lakes to the enemy.
Apart from the assurances for all amenities for a peaceful existence, Meluha offers them an organised way of life in the form of a society which has evolved over hundreds of years and is enriched with the culture and science of - longevity! A secret nectar (hence the title - immortals), which is available for the longevity of worthy Meluhans to live a life beyond normal life-spans while retaining their youthful, productive contribution to the Suryavanshis of Meluha. But would all this progress happen without an enemy lurking across the border? Alas not! The Chandravanshis, people considered by Meluhans as being lazy, irresponsible, careless and without any respect for laws or rules in their lives, threaten their progress by attacking them – within their own land!
The blue-throated Shiva finds the Meluhans go gung-ho about his privileged possession – his blue throat, which the Meluhans believe that their saviour has arrived to save them from the evil acts of the Chandravanshis! The gunas, including Nandi, Shiva’s best friend, are treated royally ever since the fact comes to light.
The story has its fair share of love and romance, when Shiva meets his soulmate Sati, a dancer, who is cursed by fate to be a “vikarma” – anyone who has had misfortune in their lifetimes. The society may be evolved, but it has its own pitfalls – to look down upon such unfortunate people, who may have lost their spouses or children in an act of nature – to being of a cursed fate and deprive them of the many good things of life is further victimising a victim of fate! Shiva immediately vows to change all that and goes about it in his own dominant way. After all, he is the Neelkanth!
The book is a well-narrated tale of social norms, love, hate and struggle of people trying to make this world a better place. Enemies seem to be the bad guys on both sides. As you read this wonderful story, the reader finds that although there was no technology in those good old days, there were still wars, hateful neighbours, civil strife, economic lifestyle choices as we have today – suggesting perhaps thereby that the more things change, the more they remain the same! The book is the first part of a Shiva Trilogy, with 2 more books awaited to come out.
I would recommend readers to read this book for being a gripping tale and for its sheer simplicity, telling us about human behaviour and about the wars between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and the passions, trials and tribulations of mortals to improve life on this planet!
Rating: 4/5
