I recently happened to read the series of the Shiva
trilogy. The reason I mentioned the word ‘happened’ is because, never the one
who is much interested in mythology, the first two books were thrust upon me by the voracious
reader sister of mine. The story had me so much in its grip that I purchased
the third one of the series all by myself!
The Shiva trilogy has proved to be the trend changer in
the Indian book scene. The series is creative, out-of-the-box and very much
Indian.
“The Story of the man, whom legend turned into a God”.
A man becomes great as a result of his karma in this world. This book presented
a Shiva I could connect to, from removing the ban on the vikarma (signified the
fight against superstitions) to cracking jokes (which makes him as earthy as
me). I learnt about the philosophy of the good and the evil, the balance
between them, the greater good turning to be the evil incarnate. The concept of
the feminine and the masculine is superbly portrayed by the kingdoms of Meluha and
Swadweep. The fact that even great people, like lord Rudra and Shiva himself,
make mistakes and are supreme enough to realize it and atone it.
One of the best parts of the book for me was the
scientific reasoning behind all that magical technology of those times. It was
interesting to read about the magic behind the divya astras, the bhramastra,
and such (Amish has definitely done his research).
The book isn’t about whether Shiva will win, that’s a
given but rather about how a man becomes so loveable that we still love, fear
and worship him to this day. The concept is fresh, ideas brave and writing
simple. The narrative is pacy and the book rushes through – pausing at the
right places for the correct duration – and then riding out to a very pulsating
end. This trilogy written by debut author Amish Tripati who is an IIM, Kolkata
graduate, is for sure worth of having as a collection.
The first edition of the trilogy being “The
Immortals of Meluha” which is followed by “The Secret of the
Nagas” and the recently released is the final edition
of the trilogy “The Oath of the Vayuputras”.
