Finished On : 19th of February 2014
Shiva gazed at the orange sky.
A 21 year old Shiva is a leader of guna tribe living in the moutain Kailash near the mansarovar lake. Apart from the harsh weather at the mountains, his tribe has to suffer from constant attacks by the other tribes, called Pakratis. This constant strife has lead to loss of many lives in his tribes. He is tired by the constant bloodshed so when a representative of a more developed country, Meluha, comes to Shiva and offers him to immigrate to Meluha, Shiva accepts his offer. His uncle and guru had once said to him that:
‘Your destiny is much larger than these massive mountains. But to make it come true, you will have to cross these very same massive mountains.’
Is this what he was talking about?
But why was he offered this proposal and not the Pakratis??
Why Meluhans want his tribe to be there??? Read the book to find out the journey that Shiva will take. A journey that will transform him into a Mahadev from a tribal leader.
The Immortals of Meluha is a fiction based on the myth of Shiva and as a fiction it needs to be taken as such. I ‘m stating this in the start of the review because if you’ll it associate with with the legend you’ll be disappointed. So to people who want to learn about Shiva the god, please go through the religious texts.
Now The immortals of Meluha is a fiction in which the author has taken a journey of a man who from a leader of a single tribe reached the pinnacle and achieved the the title of Mahadev. He explores how the guy behaves in such a situation and how he has to live up to his name.
The book is a part of trilogy. So the story in the ends is left at a crucial point and from that point the second book begins.
The book was a very fast read and hooks you into it.
I liked how the character of Shiva was drawn. He’s a practical guy who knows that following traditions blindly is of no use and society should evolve with time and so does it rules. Also i liked the way the women are portrayed in the book and how his views changes regarding the woman.This also shows that he’s willing to reform himself and is not rigid in his ways.
Now there were some things in the book that felt a little out of the world that author had created. For eg: Anti-oxidants theory, how we perceive lights and other scientific stuff that author explains using the modern terminology. I know that Meluha is a technologically advanced city and it would have been possible that scientists there knew it. So IMHO the explanation of these phenomenon using terms pertaining to that would have been great and that would have gelled with the story. Another thing was that the time line feels little out dated. As we generally know that Ravan was a great Shiva bhakt, and here Ravan is shown to be before Shiva’s time. This also creates kind of confusion. But this thing i could let go as it’s basically a fiction.
So in all i would say if you want a quick and enjoyable read. Read the book and enjoy it.
Some quotes from the book:
his burden didn’t feel any lighter. but he felt strong enough to carry it
“There are many realities. There are many versions of what may appear obvious. Whatever appears as the unshakeable truth, its exact opposite may also be true in another context. After all, one’s reality is but perception, viewed through various prisms of context.”
You can get the book from the following links:
