Shiva Trilogy Review

When I sourced this triple novel saga from the author, I did not know how involved I would become with it, though initially the story did not interest me.
About the Author: Born in Mumbai, he graduated from St Xavier’s College in Mumbai with a B.Sc. in Mathematics. Post that, he did PGDM (MBA) from IIM-Kolkata (Calcutta). His father, Vinay Kumar Tripathi holds an M.Tech (Production Engineering) degree. His father worked in companies such as Larson & Toubro and Sandoz, before starting his own Management Consultancy practice. For the last few years, he has been engaged in genetic research. His mother Usha holds an MA degree in economics. She used to be a lecturer but gave it up to bring up 4 energetic kids.
Regarding his siblings, he says, “My elder sister Bhavna Roy, a BA (Psychology) graduate and an ex-IAS Officer teaches Computer Science to school and college going children in Mumbai. My elder brother, Anish Tripathi, is an Engineer, and after spending more than 20 years in management consulting with companies like KPMG and Grant Thornton, he is now the CEO of an Education Company in Mumbai. My twin brother, Ashish Tripathi, is a BA (Economics) graduate and did his MBA from the University of Melbourne. He worked in Australia and the UK most of his life and now works in a senior role at E &Y India’s Investment Banking team.”
Amish’s wife, Preeti Vyas has been with him for nearly 24 years, 16 of them as husband and wife. She holds a retail management degree from Australia and has worked in organisations such as Crossword, Globus and Big Bazaar. She now runs Fun OK Please, her own children’s book publishing business. Their son, Neel, was born six and a half years back.

He left a lucrative banking career for writing. Amish’s first novel The Immortals of Meluha is the first of the Shiva Trilogy. He followed it up with the sequels, The Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras, the 2nd and 3rd of the trilogy.

About Shiva Trilogy: Lord Shiva is an enigmatic figure in the Indian mythology. He is God of all Gods. But what if He was as human as any one of us? How would His story be? Thus was born the story of the Neelkanth – The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras.
The story of Shiva begins very far away at Tibet, where his tribe of the Gunas lived a life full of battles with the violent tribe of Pakratis. Nandi, a Meluhan, comes into Shiva’s life to ask him and his tribe to migrate to the pure and disciplined land of Meluha.
After a lot of convincing, Shiva and his tribe, travel to Meluha. On the day they reach Meluha at Srinagar, the resident doctor Ayurvati administers Somras to Shiva and his tribe. The whole tribe falls ill and Shiva gains a cold blue throat. Ayurvati goes about treating the Gunas and when she sees Shiva’s blue throat, she bows down reverentially calling him the Neelkanth.
The Gunas and the new Neelkanth are then taken to Daksha, the Emperor of Meluha in Devagiri after a long journey. The Neelkanth’s journey does not stop here. He then goes in search of the Evil, instigated by Daksha. In between he finds time to fall in love with and marry Daksha’s daughter, Sati.

My Take: The story has been written in a very absorbing manner. Like I said before, it did not interest me in the beginning. Then I got so absorbed in it that when I was not reading it, I would think about it and talk to Mom about the characters and the story as a whole. Yes, I had got really involved with the story. In fact, I could not stop myself from shedding a couple of tears when Sati meets a tragic end after a gruesome battle, trying to save the life of Nandi, who had by then become a very good friend of Shiva. No, I have not revealed the end. The rest of the story involves how Shiva and his team avenge Sati’s death. That is something else, altogether. You have to read it to know and understand. The story is so good that Bollywood movie and sequels can be made on the novels. It is surprising that such an offer has not yet been made.
1. Book Title: The Immortals of Meluha.
Genre(s): Mythological Thriller.
Author: Amish Tripathi.
Publisher (Year): Westland Ltd. (2010).
ISBN: 978-93-80658-74-2.
Number of Pages: 411.
Price: Rs.195/-.
2. Book Title: The Secret of the Nagas.
Genre(s): Mythological Thriller.
Author: Amish Tripathi.
Publisher (Year): Westland Ltd. (2010).
ISBN: 978-93-81626-34-4.
Number of Pages: 395.
Price: Rs.195/-.
3. Book Title: The Oath of the Vayuputras.
Genre(s): Mythological Thriller.
Author: Amish Tripathi.
Publisher (Year): Westland Ltd. (2010).
ISBN: 978-93-82618-34-8.
Number of Pages: 575.
Price: Rs.395/-.