My thought: Gone are the days when we had the opportunity to learn about
our golden past from books or TV. Now our minds are bombarded by and addicted
to westernized lifestyle and we have abandoned our history- our roots. This
book(The Immortals of Meluha (Shiva Trilogy)
will surely take the readers on a journey through our historical past and
we may find, to our disbelief, that how legends are nothing but the core part
of history and Myths are truly codified social laws. The book is a true gem for
them who love history, legends and Mythologies.
Writing Style: The author has used our Classical legends as
the springboard of his story. The characters are not new, but the tales, told
in the third person omniscient narrative, are totally a creation of esemplastic
imagination. The legends like Shiva, Sati, Nandi, Birbhadra, Daksha - all roam
around a certain topography as true human beings of flesh and blood. The
objectivity of the author over the pivotal question of ‘Virtue/Vice’ also
allows the readers to form their opinion independently. The divinity is seen
from a benevolent perspective where ‘Karma’ or Achievements are the only
yardstick for such lofty baptization. True to its pseudo-epic structure, tales
are broken into episodes and readers will be glued to it once they start
reading. The Unity of Time, Place and Action is observed meticulously though
some reliable distractions have lent it a different layer to our ‘willing
suspension of disbelief’.
Summary: Immortals of Meluha by Amish is the first book of a
proposed trilogy that focuses on the making of the legend of lord Shiva. Though
the other two books are still to follow, the first book has shown enough
promise to attract readers from all walks of life.The story unfolds the odyssey
of a person called Shiva. He is like a clan leader, a patriarch, to be more
specific, who came down from his home territory (i.e somewhere in Tibet) to
Meluha (Somewhere in Sindh) in search of safety and shelter. Shiva, had to
abandon his native place as it was frequently attacked by neighboring ethnic
groups. Here for the first time we meet Nandi, who according to legends is a
close follower of lord Shiva; but, here he has a different identity. He was an
outsider who came from Meluha and offered Shiva a safe passage to their land.
Shiva accepted it only to save his men and women from the barbarians. Shiva's
arrival in Meluha started his journey of becoming Neelkanth - or the man with
'blue throat'. Shiva’s throat turned azure as soon as he drank Somras – a very
famous bacchanalian energy drink. The Meluhans who call themselves Suryavanshi
(a clan that follows Solar calendar), were a staunch believer in the Neelkantha
legends and they believed that he would lead them to triumph over the Evil of
Chandravanshi ( a clan that follows lunar calendar). Shiva, without knowing the
implications of such a forced title and the honor attached to it, took the
occurrence as a mere accident. But he was gleefully accepted by the king Daksha
and his prime minister. Only his lieutenant, Parvatraj, had doubts. The
lieutenant was a follower of Lord Rama, the virtous king and the law-giver, and
was not ready to accept the supremacy of an outsider, taken for granted only
because he had had a blue throat. Fair call! The drama in the story takes new
twist with the introduction of Sati - the name which reflects divinity in its female
form. Sati is the daughter of king Daksha which truly has a mythical base. On
the other hand, she is the god-daughter of lieutenant Parvatraj and legend says
that Sati is often called Parvati as she is a descendant of parvatraaj
Himalaya. The romance of Shiva-Sati and their marriage serves the subplot where
the main plot revolves round the battle between two kingdoms. The terrorist
strikes by the ferocious Nagas also add new dimension to the buildup suspense.
Get this book now at a very low price.