Amish Tripathi’s The Immortals of Meluh as Cocktail of Myths and Fiction Ms. FARSANA. B M. Phil Research Scholar, Department of English, NGM College, Pollachi. ___________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: A myth is a sacred or symbolic story from the past, and it may be ritualistic in nature. A myth may describe the origins of people, or explains customs or traditions. Retelling of mythology is a common practice in literature. For the past few decades, the practice of retelling of mythology in literature, especially in Indian Writing in English has undergone remarkable changes catering to the expectations of the modern readers. The Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi is one such brilliant attempt. The first book in the series, The Immortals of Meluha is a fresh tale on Lord Shiva whom we meet regularly in temples and shivalyas, but have never had such a fantastic vision of. Amish is an IIM educated boring banker turned happy author. He is passionate about history, mythology, and philosophy, finding beauty and meaning in all world’s religions. Amish has interestingly used the plot of ancient folklore and mythology and embellished it with his writing skills and imagination. What comes out is a heady mix of fiction and reality. He tells a fascinating tale of the characters we have grown up hearing of and brings them all to life, molding their characters as per his story’s requirement. The Immortals of Meluhais a heady cocktail of mythology as we know it and fantastic tale of its own. Keywords: India, Myth, Fiction, Modernizing, Culture. _________________________________________________________________________ Mythology in Indian context is perhaps the most utilized and most admired for every generation and genre. History bears proof to every fact the Indians from every age, time and place and dynasty have expressed their ardent desire to be enriched and knowledgeable in myths, mythology, legends and folklore. Irrespective of belonging to the contemporary age or being placed in erstwhile era, Indian mythology and its umpteen sections have rested their permanent influence on Indian literature as a whole, which by their own right; can be considered a literary genre itself. The Puranas consisting of the two great epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata represents the antiquity of India. These epics are the rich storehouse of the traditional myths, stories, about legends, deals with the pantheon of Hindu Gods and folktales. They are viewed as a cultural beacon of values, beliefs, prejudices and philosophical ideals. Doty acknowledges this view as, “Mythic expression is never about trivial matters; it involves instead perspectives behaviour, and essential. It is clearly the sort of expression that presents dramatic embodiments of ideals and values and models of heroic and supreme”(19). Regardless of the criticisms and accusations directed towards myths questioning its authenticity and validity, writers have been practicing reinterpretation of mythical stories. The main reason for this unquenchable interest of the writers in mythology is to figure out the meaning of their present in relation to their ancient past. The earlier Indian fictional writers assigned perspectives, meanings, and connotations to the traditional myths. They used archetypes of legendary heroes, symbols, character types and themes. But now the common practice of retelling mythical stories involves reconstruction of stories and characters in accordance with the context that clearly brought mythology into the living room conversations and debates. Mythology in the modern predicament is used to bridge the gap between urban and rural consciousness, between the past and the present. Mythic thoughts, in fact, are attempts to mediate the gaps between continuity and change. By using similar mythological situations, a broader dimension is given to the present-day chaotic condition in which humanity is living today. The mythical past affirms man’s relationship to the transcendent. It has a value-structure. It is a rediscovery of the past for the present, and an adaptation for the future. In contemporary Indian works, along with a sense of urbanity,
an attitude of irony, frequent use of mythological sequences as structural images, and a continuous involvement with the problems of expediency and eternity, are very visible. These writers have made an effort to retrieve, rediscover, and redefine elements of culture in a creative way, by a return to pride in one’s roots, while looking ahead. The new breed of writers like Amish Tripathi, Ashok Banker and AshwinSanghi are experimenting the mythology genre by blending it with the other modes of writing. For instance, Ashok Banker and Amish Tripathi have blended mythology with fantasy mode. With this kind of implementations these writers are modernizing the Indian myths. Ashok Banker pioneered this practice of modernizing the myths in Indian fictional writing. But he endeavoured to stay true to the original mythical stories by replicating them. On the other hand Amish Tripathi has created purely a fantasy fiction out of the mythical stories by establishing a unique identity for Indian Writing in English with his Shiva Trilogy. CI-1/Vol-1/January 2015 p-ISSN: 2249-2569, e-ISSN: 2320-2955 Contextualizing Cultural Heritage in Literatures, Govt. Arts College (A), Salem-7, TN, India 63 | P a g e (Published By: IJHEPS, Delhi, Home Page-www.ijheps.org) Amish is passionate about mythology, history and philosophy. His belief is that there are beauty and meaning in all world cultures and religions. Amish’s Shiva Trilogy is based on the reconstruction of several Indian mythical characters and stories drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and Shivapuran. For the philosophical arguments he has relied on the classical Sanskrit texts of the Vedas and Upanishads. The tree books of the series are the sole proof of the skill of Amish in crafting different modes such as fantasy fiction, adventure and thriller fiction into the genre of mythology. The earlier Indian writers have made conventional use of mythology. They either used mythical themes or mythical characters in their works. Amish broke this traditional way of handling mythology and has given it a new outlook. Amish has picked one of the most multifaceted Gods from Hindu mythology to weave his tale about. He takes a God we believe in and turns him into an ordinary man then tells a tale of how the ordinary man transforms into a God due to his conduct, choices, deeds, and destiny. This fascinating page turner easily manages to bring to us a more innovative and engrossing version of the Shivapuran along with a subtle allegory of philosophy, with a completely different perspective. He recreates the myth of Shiva, Ganesh, Sati and Kali through his study of all spheres of Indian life and literature. He makes Shiva myth appealing and intelligible to the modern mind. Those who still keep the oral tradition alive through chanting and singing of hymns and folk songs deserve gratitude and admiration of young generation. At the same time, there is also a need to understand and reinterpret its meaning. Recitation without a knowledge of its meaning does not enlighten one. Amish insists to engage oneself in action because actions purify as knowledge liberates. Through recreation, 'The Shiva Trilogy" becomes living inspirational scripture capable of providing spiritual direction in the modern world. The life of Shiva as more human than God is what the theme of the book revolves around. The perfect combination and balance of adventure, action and love along with ideologies, mythology and philosophy is what has led Amish to his destiny of producing this nationally acclaimed bestseller. The Immortals of Meluha is based on the construction of the existence of Indian mythical God Shiva as the legendary figure in 1900 B.C. The epic narrative is generally a literary construction mingled with the pseudo historical material. Amish has succeeded in making many mythological figures into simple flesh and blood human beings, and therein lies the beauty and acceptability of this book.The book starts off with a young tribal leader (Shiva) in Tibet, who is cheerful, carefree, and yet dedicated and strong in both mind and body. His courage makes him highly respected among his tribe of Gunas, and hence, no one questions his decision to move away from Mansarovar and
migrate for better life. As the setting of this episode shifts from Mount Kailash to Meluha, Shiva gradually transforms into a more Godlike being, the ‘Neelkanth’ or ‘The Divine one with the Blue Throat’. The Suryavanshis and the people of Meluha prophesize the arrival of this second Mahadeva as an initiator to a safer and a more glorious future for their kin. The plot thickens as the rivalry between the Suryavanshi and the Chandravanshi tribes takes a turn for the worse. This is where Shiva’s destiny as a charismatic leader and a divine individual comes face to face with his present persona which is that of a simple unassuming soul. As a whole The Immortals of Meluha, by Amish is an exhilarating cocktail of reality and myth blending them like never before showing how rich indeed they are. Shiva like an ordinary man is unsure, uncertain and anxious about the responsibilities that he would be shouldering in the near future. This is when Sati enters his life. Suddenly, Shiva finds the lost peace and balance in his life and finally succumbs to what he was destined for. Slowly and gradually these events lead up to Shiva discovering the latent strength and power that resides within him and using it for the wellbeing of the humanity. Lord Brahma is referred to as a great Indian ‘scientist’ who was always inventing devices and cures for the good of mankind. Under his guidance, a select group of adolescents, chosen from each of the seven regions of ancient India, honed their minds to achieve superhuman intelligence. They were known as the Saptarishis. Strict rules forbade them from practicing any trade for personal gain. They became priests, teachers, doctors, who did not charge for their services, but lived on donations and alms. The Saptarishis and the people they selected to share their responsibilities came to be known as the Tribe of Brahma or Brahmins. Corruption inevitably eroded their purity. There is something here that resembles India’s current situation – the Meluhas are Suryavanshis, worshippers of the sun. The Chandravanshis, who live across the border, are a perfidious lot, and worship the moon. They keep sending small bands of assassins who launch surprise attacks on public places. Their aim is to attack noncombatants – the Brahmins, Vaishyas or Shudras, devastate place like temples, public baths, spread terror and wreck the empire’s morale. They have the Nagas, a race of deformed people, adept at martial arts, ontheir side.Shiva is the unwitting savior who is enlisted to fight them off. He like an anti-hero who constantly lights up his chillum and smokes marijuana, keeps looking out for non-vegetarian eating places, and moons over a widow, Parvati, and yes, loves to dance. The book describes a lot of close combat and well-described violence. It is termed as a great book that gets you acquainted with some admirable aspects of our gods and their culture. Throughout the course of the novel, the diverse canvas of Indian history, mythology, folklore and religion keep the reader engrossed and desperate to turn the pages and devour the printed words. Moreover, the underlying philosophical allegory of the fact that ‘God resides in each one of us, all we need to do is realize this and give ourselves a chance’ aids the emotional connection and relation of the readers with the book. Though CI-1/Vol-1/January 2015 pISSN: 2249-2569, e-ISSN: 2320-2955 Contextualizing Cultural Heritage in Literatures, Govt. Arts College (A), Salem-7, TN, India 64 | P a g e (Published By: IJHEPS, Delhi, Home Page-www.ijheps.org) Amish faced unpleasant experiences while publishing his book, he successfully connects such emotions to his readers. He opens up on the success of his books and challenges faced to Manish Mishra: I stopped counting after 20 rejections. All of them felt that this was a religious book and the youth isn’t interested in religion so there was no hope for this book. To be honest, I don’t see my books as ‘religious’ even though I’m a devoted Shiva worshipper. It’s an adventure series. Finally, we self published it. The book picked up within the first week and the publishers who had rejected it came back for a transfer. (Tripathi, “I stopped”) Though there were questions on the publication of his books he believes it’s “the
attractiveness of Shiva” that has contributed to the popularity of the books (Parker). He talks about how youth attracted to someone like Shiva and something like mythology to Ananya Bhattacharya of Zeenews.com: There is a kind of attraction towards Lord Shiva for the youth. Shiva is a very ‘cool’ sort of a character. He is a god of the rebels, he doesn`t really differentiate between the Devas and the Asuras, he is a one – woman man who is passionately in love with Parvati, he is a brilliant dancer and a consummate musician, and he isthe author of the Vedas. Shiva is a very knowledgeable, democratic god; he treats his devotees with respect. At the same time, he has this love for marijuana and bhang! I feel whoever has a streak of rebelliousness in them, would find Shiva very attractive. There is a mood of rebellion and anti-elitism in India and around the world. And Shiva is the original anti-elitist, rebellious deity! (Parker) He attributed his interest in mythology to his background, “I was born in a very religious family. My grandfather was a Pandit in Benaras and a teacher – he taught Mathematics and Physics at Benaras Hindu University. Both my parents are also very religious. So I learnt much of what I know about mythology and religious philosophies from my family.”(Parker) He believed retelling the tales of Lord Shiva — in a modern, contemporary and relatable style will resensitising our minds to our rich cultural past: “I don’t think mythology ever went out of fashion in India. We are one of those rare civilisations with a culture spanning more than 5,000 years. We’ve kept our traditions alive. We allow our traditions to adapt with time and we are not rigid about it. Stories also modernise and localise, which keeps them alive. This tradition of modernising and localisingmythology puts life back into it and makes it relevant once again.”(Tripathi, “I stopped”)Amish to an interview with AnushaParthasarathy for The Hindu says: My book began as a thesis on the nature of evil and then became an adventure of sorts. Who else can be the hero of such a book but the destroyer of evil, Shiva. Retelling myths has been a rich tradition in this country and my attempt is only a continuation of it. If you look at the Ramayana, Kamban’s version is different from the Tulsidas version. They retold it for the people of their era and this is different from the original by Valmiki. It’s not just the Ramayana but the same with all Puranas.(Tripathi, “Indian Mythology”) The book’s biggest strength is how it plunks the mythological characters from the epics and plants them into tale with fitting characters, but still ensures that they are all humans. The subplots tell tales of Vasudevs, Sati, Nandi, Gunas, Rudra, Devas and Asuras, and more making it strikingly clear that everyone including Gods, can make mistakes. The narrative is lucid and the story is well-paced. Primarily the books are exciting but there is implausibility in it says Shuddhabrata Sengupta: Amish reveals the mysteries of the plot at the perfect pace, keeping the reader always desiring more information without growing bored. But the excitement of the plot masks deeper problems hidden at the center of the series. At the onset, the Shiva Trilogy claims to be an interpretation of “the rich mythological heritage of ancient India, blending fiction with historical fact.” This is a bold agenda to embark on, and if done correctly should be quite fruitful, yielding an enlightening account that is informative, instructive, and interesting. But, while it is a mixture of classical mythology, fantasy fiction, popular science, self-help philosophy, and history, the Shiva Trilogy makes a mess out of each and every one of these categories. The odd blend of fantasy, reality, and speculative history creates an awkward comic tone that can be captured in a single sentence from the first book: “The drone of Brahmin scientists reciting Sanskrit shlokas at the base of the mountain floated up to create an ethereal atmosphere of pathos.” The powerful Puranic stories of Shiva and the great wealth of scholarship and archeology of ancient India are reduced to names, vague references and symbols, while the poetic abilities of the author are hampered by religious sentiments. These three major strands—myth, history, fiction—combine in the most
awkward of all possible manners; with possible dangerous consequences. But Amish argues that the very term mythology, which comes from the Greek word mythos, means to hide the truth and that it is up to us to discover it through the story, “Probably the only ancient civilisation that has kept its myths alive even today is India. This is not because the other myths aren’t as rich as ours but because we have understood the philosophy behind them. Myths are not about the stories but about the message CI1/Vol-1/January 2015 p-ISSN: 2249-2569, e-ISSN: 2320-2955 Contextualizing Cultural Heritage in Literatures, Govt. Arts College (A), Salem-7, TN, India 65 | P a g e (Published By: IJHEPS, Delhi, Home Page-www.ijheps.org) you spread through them.” And as societies and beliefs change, myths have to change along with them. “Modernising and localising myths are ways of keeping them relevant in modern times. Otherwise, they would die out. Whether that would make them relatable is something readers will have to decide,” he says. (Tripathi, “Indian Mythology”) In this age of demythologization, whatsoever, Amish firmly establishes a fictionalized historical account affirming that dwelling in geography of India imbues people with salvific strength. Though the fictionist seems to hold that human beings have an active intellect but a passive sensibility,Amish doubtlessly counts himself among those lucky few – the Shiva Trilogy novels- The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas, and The Oath of the Vayuputras have not only become bestsellers but have also been lapped up by both Hollywood and Bollywood for film adaptations, a commendable feat for a debutant writer. References: Bhattacharya, Ananya. “For the youth, Lord Shiva holds a different kind of attraction: Amish Tripathi.” Zeenews.com. Zeenews, 24 Feb 2013. Web. 4 Dec 2014. Doty, William G. Myth: A Handbook. US: Heinle and Heinle, 1999. Print Parker, Enid.“Amish Tripathi: Of Myths and Legends.”Khaleej Times Entertainment.Khaleej Times Services, 1 Mar 2014. Web. 4 Dec 2014. Sengupta, Shuddhabrata. “Implausible Deniability – Reading Amish Tripathi’s ‘Shiva’ Trilogy: Eric Gurevitch.” Kalifa. Kalifa.org, 28 Apr 2014. Web. 5 Dec 2014. Tripathi, Amish. The Immortals of Meluha. New Delhi: Westland Ltd, 2010. Print. ---. Interview by Manish Mishra. “I stopped counting after 20 rejections: Amish Tripathi.” DNA Shadow Editorial Board, Diligent Media Corporative Ltd, 9 Feb 2014. Web. 6 Dec 2014. ---. Interview by AnushaParthasarathy. “Indian mythology — tales that change with the times.”The Hindu 13 Sep 2013. Web. 8 Dec 2014
