The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi: Book Review

It was my childhood myth that Lord Shiva is a very busy and powerful God that He will not have time to heed to my prayers. So I refrained from having a connection with Him as a God. Not to exaggerate, this book has changed that stupidity of my bygone days. Now I feel He is as gentle and heeding as any of my other favourites.

Written by Amish Tripathi, this book is about Lord Shiva’s life as a human on Earth. Most of the characters are already familiar to us as they form our ancient mythology. Having mentioned Lord Shiva and mythology, it might give an impression of an old historical, religious and boring book. But that’s not the truth.

The immortals of Meluha  is unbelievably written to the interest of the present day readers. Lord Shiva often utters “Shit” and “Damn it” and Rishi Brahaspati conducts scientific experiments. So you can imagine the fun-filled mythology that is presented in this book. 

What to expect?

It is evident that the author has taken personal interest to do good amount of research into ancient Indian lifestyles with a special note to the time periods. And if you are reading this book, you are in the Indus valley civilization period. Thanks to the map of ancient India at the back of the cover page. It was significant to get a mental illustration of where the author is taking us on his travel. Vivid descriptions take us live to the Indus valley civilization – their constructions, planning of their towns, their laws, people, their simplicity, unity, honesty and lifestyle – a dream to our chaotic lives! Woman can be warriors, can re-marry, can dress explicitly. Men need not be fighters. They can choose to do what they like.

Few other interesting reads:

• The author’s subjective belief of the Indian origin to the Tamils is new and surprising.
• The unbiased reflection on the then caste divisions into brahmins, Kshatriyas, vaishyas and sudras is amazing throughout the book.
• The scientific explanations about the human body mechanisms is a good read.
• Explaining Shiva’s psyche through his dreams is a realistic approach.
• The Pandits giving guidance to a confused Shiva are nice parts.
• And to my great surprise another legend, Lord Ram, being Shiva’s hero.

Surpassing all the above are the war scenes. The final war was one part that was gripping and you will not be willing to keep the book down at the scene. All the other petty wars were equally enthralling. When I say war scenes, every blow is described, mind it.

What I’ve withheld so far for the final touch,  is their love and romance – Shiva’s and Sati’s! Shiva has been portrayed as a passionate lover. In fact in the few initial chapters, Shiva’s everyday duty was only keeping a track of Sati and do unimpressive things to impress her :lol: Sati’s unyielding and strong character makes her different from all the other I am-too-gentle types of heroines. He adores her, protects her, sheds blood and tears for her – and in fact brings her back from death-bed!

What’s so unique?

Everybody knows the power of Lord Shiva. Everybody knows that He can do everything. Everybody knows He is strong. However, here the author has had the courage to introduce Shiva as a uncoothe tribe who:

• doesn’t know his own potential.
• is in search of his destiny.
• goes behind the heroine, like an Indian film hero.
• doesn’t accept to take a new responsibility.
• carries fear and guilt of his past.
• is an emotional human who can cry.
• is uncertain about what he has done and what he needs to do.

And thereby signifying that every human is the same. With hidden potentials and unsure of his destiny, every human is capable of living a life of a Mahadev.

Har Har Mahadev! – What Shiva all by himself  discovers finally!

Another peculiar style of the author is this – When you read about a previously introduced character in the subsequent chapters, there will not be a direct mention to the name. That is, in every chapter, the familiar characters will be re-introduced with the same descriptions. At a first read, it will appear like a new character. But it is up to the readers to match the descriptions and discover who it is.

The final twist – unexpected and totally contradictory to what has been told in all the previous chapters. That’s where the author has actually brought forth what exactly he wanted to convey in this book. An answer to the question who is good and who is evil!

What next?

Its sequel, The Secret of the Nagas is  the second one in the Shiva trilogy series.

Book: The Immortals of Meluha Author: Amish Tripathi

This review was originally posted at my personal blog Pages from Serendipity February 20, 2012