The Immortals of Meluha

The foreigner's words came flooding back to Shiva "Come to our land. It lies beyond the great mountains. Others call it Meluha. I call it Heaven."

And thus begins this gripping novel "The Immortals of Meluha"

Set in 1900 BC, what is interesting about this book is that it gives a completely new twist to our age old commonly accepted mythological beliefs. Here Lord Shiva is a simple tribal man from Mansarovar who is invited to move with his tribe to the immensely prosperous land of Meluha, whose inhabitants are the descendants of lord Ram, the Suryavanshis. This kingdom is seething for a war with their neighbours the Chandravanshis and they hope that Shiva will be their saviour.

This is what forms the basic premise of this novel. Moving at a fast pace, the author challenges us to lay aside our preconceived notions for here Nandi is not the bull as w know him to be, but rather a faithful Human companion of Shiva. Most importantly he has shown Shiva as a simple human being, rather that the Lord Shiva or Mahadev that we know and worship him as, a man who rose to become Godlike purely because of his karma.

The downside of this book I would say is the usage of colloquial terms like Goddammit, O Hell with you, What the hell and so on. It sort of disturbs the feel of the story, making it seem a bit casual, when actually it is quite the opposite.

Except for that small little glitch "the Immortals of Meluha" is definitely a winner and leaves the reader anticipating for the next two parts. Thumbs up to the Amazing climax!!

My Verdict: A Must Read, but only for serious readers and those having a bit of knowledge and interest about Indian Mythology. First time readers or ones who are looking for something light to read might find this book a bit intense and heavy. Enjoy!