Title: The Immortals of Meluha

Author: Amish Tripathi

Publisher: Westland Press

Published: 2010

Language: English

Pages: 390

 

SUMMARY

  • Plot

This is the first novel of Shiva trilogy by Amish Tripathi. The story is set in the land of Meluhas. Shiva, the main character is believed  as the saviour Neelkanth  by the Meluhans. Shiva decides to help the Meluhans in their war against Chandravanshis. During his journey and the fight that ensues, Shiva learns how his choices actually reflect who he aspires to be. Is the rough hewn Tibetan immigrant Shiva, really a hero? And does he want to be that hero at all?

 

         “ A man becomes a Mahadev, only when he fights for good. A Mahadev is not born from his mother’s womb. He is forged in the heat battle, when he wages a war to destroy evil. HAR HAR NAHADEV – ALL OF US ARE MAHADEV”

  • Theme

The themes can be summed up as Shiva, myth and fantasy. It has set a new bar for Indian fiction.

“His burden didn’t feel any lighter, but he felt strong enough to carry it.”

  • Author

Amish Tripathi is an Indian author. He has been awarded the Society Young Achievers Award for literature in 2013, Pride of India 2014 and more. Forbes India has ranked him among the top 100 celebrities  in India four times in a row.

His other novels include The Secret of Nagas, The Oath of the Vayuputras, Scion of Ikshvaku.

  • Setting

          Set in 1900 B.C.,the story was based on Meluha, the probable ancient name for the Indus Valley Civilization as the modern historians say. He also made use of other places as of Swadeep, Dandaka forest.

“I don’t believe in symbolic Gods. I believe that God exists all around us. In the flow of river, in the rustle of the trees, in the whisper of the winds. He speaks to us all the time. All we need to do is listen” 

  • Adaptation

In January 2015 Amish Tripathi confirmed that director and screenwriter Karan Malhotra was adapting the story into the film script, with Tripathi acting as creative consultant and reviewer.

Evaluation

Critic reviews

“ Amish is India’s first literary popstar”- Shekhar Kapur

“Amish is India’s Tolkien”- Business Standard

“Amish is…the Paulo Coelho of the east”- Business World

“Archetypal and stirring…. Amish’s book unfold the deepest recesses of the soul.”- Deepak Chopra

“Compelling narrative style”- Shashi Tharoor

I strongly recommend everybody to read this book. It is the story of the man, whom legend  turned into a God. Reading mythology doesn’t interest me much. But the reviews made me read it. It deserves to be read to know how a person can envelope mythology in a modern cover. It is really unreal what he made out of famous mythological characters. It is new, fresh and will force you to rethink the basics of mythology. And do you know what really this phrase mean?

HAR HAR MAHADEVA!”

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