Shiva’s Fate in the Land of The Immortals of Meluha: Book Review

Author: Amish Tripathi

Publishing Company: Westland Ltd.

Pages: 397

Price: Rs. 195

With a sadhu in its cover page gesturing it as a mythological fiction (as I am not greatly inclined towards mythology & history), I didn’t give it a damn to reading this piece of narration, a debut by Amish (Tripathi) -who prefers to be called by his first name only as he doesn’t endorse caste system, which his first series of trilogy depicts where Lord Ram established the Maika system in the empire.  But, it’s instant hullabaloo in the market, and a recommendation with urge by the bookseller made me turn its pages. So, apparently certain anxiety groomed to read the magical thrill behind the scenes.  

It had failed to impress me first time, and I decided to lock it in the cupboard. But then, I went for a second chance to romance with the depiction of landscape & lifestyle of Gunas & Meluhans up to a few of pages, until I found a solace.

Shiva is a Tibetan immigrant whose tribe gets chosen by the Meluhans to spend a peaceful and rich lifestyle in a near perfect empire. This decision of migration might change the fate of Shiva for he would not be the chief but a regular guy. He accepts the offer as it should be better off rather to fight the Pakratis everyday for the survival.

With his entrance in the kingdom of Daksha, his destiny turns, to the depth of confusion, which he eventually accepts. And, its credit goes to the medicinal drink- Somras- which brought blue colour to the throat of Shiva, and thus, he was being declared Neelkanth- the god of Gods who had been eagerly awaited by the Meluhans to protect them from the evil spirits, Chandravanshis.  The sense of duty of Neelkanth towards the Meluhans was also driven by his love for Sati. Sati was a vikarma, where her bad fate had been carried off with an unfortunate event in the past. Amid the misery of where Shiva’s fate drives him, he found unveiled truth about the Chandravanshis. Later, with the guidance of Pandits he found serenity without discrimination.

In the last two pages, Pandit advises Shiva to go for his wife’s comforting embrace as they would discuss the conversation later, and here Amish leaves readers with the anxiety of ‘next what?’.

So, to unveil the truth behind the picture, you have to spend some bucks for the next two books in series.  ;)

I observed that the author had gone with the flow so much that he forgot to answer the queries of his protagonist (Shiva) – why did his tribe get chosen by the Meluhans.

I liked the way the author has portrayed the character of Daksha in respect to Shiva, unlike its depiction in the Hindu mythology; which brought my interest to read the other characters. I applaud his questioning of Lord Ram’s verdict for Sita.

Love of Shiva and Sati was very much Bollywood style which might be the raison d’être of its movie version- soon to be filmed. Albeit, it fascinated me first, but later it seemed exaggerated with their contest over the choice of baby.  

With some grammatical errors, I doubt if the editors have displayed their consummation with conviction.  

It’s a plain fiction with its characters’ names in resemblance with the characters of the Hindu mythology. Don’t misunderstand it with anything to do with mythology. It interested me later despite my mood swing, so yes, it’s readable. I have found it average one.

Tell me, how much it fascinated you.