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==Commercial performance==
==Commercial performance==
''The Immortals of Meluha'' was a commercial success. Just after a week of its publication in February 2010, the book hit the best seller list of several magazines and newspapers, including ''[[The Statesman]]'', ''[[The Economic Times]]'', ''[[The Times of India]]'', ''[[Rolling Stone|Rolling Stone India]]'', among others.<ref name="open"/> The book had to be re-printed for another 5,000 copies thrice within the next week, and by the end of July, it had sold around 45,000 copies across India.<ref name="open"/> Both Tripathi and Tiwari decided that a transfer of the rights of the book to a larger publisher was needed, so as to take the book to higher grounds.<ref name="open"/> Many publishers bid for it, but they went with Westland Publishers, who had been the distributing partner for the book.<ref name="open"/> The Westland edition of the book was published on September 10, 2010, in Delhi amidst a media frenzy.<ref name="state"/> It was launched by former UN diplomat [[Shashi Tharoor]], who praised it.<ref name="state"/> The edited version of ''The Immortals of Meluha'' was accompanied by the release of an [[audio book]] for the novel.<ref name="state"/> In total the book has sold around 75,000 copies, making it one of the best selling fiction of 2010.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Umair|first=Siddique|title=Faith at Heart|date=2010-09-11|work=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=Kasturi and Sons Ltd.|issn=0971-751X|volume=1345|issue=211|pages=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Bestsellers-on-your-bookshelf/Article1-644915.aspx|title=Bestsellers on your bookshelf|date=2010-12-31|accessdate=2011-01-09|work=[[The Hindustan Times]]|publisher=[[The Times Group]]|last=Mazumder|first=Jayeeta}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.topnews.in/law/khushwant-fatima-bhutto-amongst-2010s-most-read-authors-244150|title=Khushwant, Fatima Bhutto amongst 2010's most read authors|last=Iyer|first=Raman|date=2010-12-28|accessdate=2011-01-09|publisher=Topnews.in}}</ref>
''The Immortals of Meluha'' was a commercial success. Just after a week of its publication in February 2010, the book hit the best seller list of several magazines and newspapers, including ''[[The Statesman]]'', ''[[The Economic Times]]'', ''[[The Times of India]]'', ''[[Rolling Stone|Rolling Stone India]]'', among others.<ref name="open"/> The book had to be re-printed for another 5,000 copies thrice within the next week, and by the end of July, it had sold around 45,000 copies across India.<ref name="open"/> Both Tripathi and Tiwari decided that a transfer of the rights of the book to a larger publisher was needed, so as to take the book to higher grounds.<ref name="open"/> Many publishers bid for it, but they went with Westland Publishers, who had been the distributing partner for the book.<ref name="open"/> The Westland edition of the book was published on September 10, 2010, in Delhi amidst a media frenzy.<ref name="state"/> It was launched by former UN diplomat [[Shashi Tharoor]], who praised it.<ref name="state"/> The edited version of ''The Immortals of Meluha'' was accompanied by the release of an [[audio book]] for the novel.<ref name="state"/> In total the book has sold around 125,000 copies, making it one of the best selling fiction of all-time.<ref>Sales info of ''The Immortals of Meluha'':
*{{cite journal|last=Umair|first=Siddique|title=Faith at Heart|date=2010-09-11|work=[[The Hindu]]|publisher=Kasturi and Sons Ltd.|issn=0971-751X|volume=1345|issue=211|pages=13}}
*{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Bestsellers-on-your-bookshelf/Article1-644915.aspx|title=Bestsellers on your bookshelf|date=2010-12-31|accessdate=2011-01-09|work=[[The Hindustan Times]]|publisher=[[The Times Group]]|last=Mazumder|first=Jayeeta}}
*{{cite news|url=http://www.topnews.in/law/khushwant-fatima-bhutto-amongst-2010s-most-read-authors-244150|title=Khushwant, Fatima Bhutto amongst 2010's most read authors|last=Iyer|first=Raman|date=2010-12-28|accessdate=2011-01-09|publisher=Topnews.in}}
*{{cite news|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=hub060811Strategies.asp|title=6 Strategies to sell your book that your publisher doesn’t know|last=Kumar|first=Sunaina|date=2011-08-05|accessdate=2011-08-05|work=[[Tehelka]]|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/60hwpIjxF|archivedate=2011-08-05}}</ref>
</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 09:36, 5 August 2011

The Immortals Of Meluha
Back profile of a man, who has big, unkempt hair, which is tied to a knot at the top of his head. The man overlooks a huge lake, which is surrounded by snow-clad mountains. In front of the man's naked torso, a trident is kept.
AuthorAmish Tripathi
Cover artistRashmi Pusalkar
LanguageEnglish
SeriesShiva trilogy
SubjectShiva, Myth, Fantasy
GenreFiction
PublisherTara Press
Publication date
February 2010
Publication placeIndia
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages390
ISBN987-81-8386-069-7 Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid prefix
Followed byThe Secret of the Nagas 

The Immortals of Meluha is the first novel of the Shiva trilogy series by Amish Tripathi. The story takes place in the imaginary land of Meluha and how they are saved from their wars by a nomad named Shiva. It begins with the Meluhan king Daksha inviting tribes to stay at his country, one of them being Shiva's tribe. They soon come to recognize Shiva as their fabled saviour called Neelkanth, after he devours a poison which turns his throat blue. Shiva decides to help the Meluhans in their war against the Chandravanshis, who had joined forces with a cursed group called Nagas. However, in his journey and the resulting fight that ensues, Shiva learns how his choices actually reflected who he aspires to be, and how it led to dire consequences.

Tripathi had initially decided to write a book on the philosophy of evil, but was dissuaded by his family members, so he decided to write a book on Shiva, one of the Hindu Gods. He decided to base his story on the fundamental concept that all Gods were once human beings; it was their deeds in the human life that made them famous as Gods. After finishing writing The Immortals of Meluha, Tripathi faced rejection from many publication houses. Ultimately when his agent decided to publish the book himself, Tripathi embarked on a promotional campaign. It included a live-action video being uploaded on YouTube, and giving the first chapter of the book as free digital download, to entice the readers.

Ultimately, when the book was published in February 2010, it went on to become a huge commercial success. It had to be reprinted a number of times to keep up with the demand. Tripathi even changed his publisher and hosted a big launch for the book in Delhi. The Immortals of Meluha went on to sell over 75,000 copies, making it one of the best-selling fiction novels of 2010. It was also critically appreciated, although some of them noted that Tripathi's writing tended to lose focus at some parts of the story.

Plot

Meluha is a near perfect empire, created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived. However, the once proud empire and its Suryavanshi rulers face severe perils as its primary river, the revered Saraswati, is slowly drying to extinction. They also face devastating terrorist attacks from the east, the land of the Chandravanshis who had joined forces with the Nagas, a cursed race with physical deformities. The present king of Meluha, Daksha, sent his emissaries to North India in Tibet, to welcome the tribes that live there, to Meluha. One of the tribes invited were the Gunas, whose chief Shiva is a brave warrior and protector. Shiva accepts the proposal and moves to Meluha with his tribe. They reach the city of Srinagar and are received there by Ayurvati, the Chief of Medicine of the Meluhans. Shiva and his tribe are impressed with the Meluhan's way of living. On their first night of stay at Srinagar, the Gunas woke with a deep fever and sweating. The Meluhans, under Ayurvati's orders carry on the healing process and she finds that Shiva is the only one devoid of these symptoms and that his throat had turned blue. The Meluhans announce Shiva as the Neelkanth, their fabled saviour.

Shiva is then taken to Devagiri, the capital city of Meluha, where he meets Daksha. While staying there, Shiva and his comrades Nandi and Veer Bhadra encounter a strange woman, who though extremely beautiful, had a look of penance on her face. They later came to know that it was Princess Sati, the daughter of Daksha and is a vikarma, an untouchable in this life due to sins of their past births. Shiva tries to court her, but she rejects his advances. Ultimately Shiva wins her heart and they decide to get married, even though the vikarma rule prohibits them from doing so. Enraged by the so called obsolete law, Shiva declares himself as the Neelkanth and swears to dissolve the vikarma law. Daksha allows Sati to get married to Shiva, amidst much joy and happiness.

During his stay in Devagiri, Shiva comes to know of the treacherous wars that the Chandravanshis are carrying on the Meluhans. He also meets Bŗahaspati, the Chief Inventor of the Meluhans. He invites Shiva and the royal family on an expedition to Mount Mandar, where the legendary Somras is manufactured, utilizing the waters of the Saraswati river. Shiva learns that the potion which made his throat turn blue was actually undiluted Somras, which taken in its pure form could be lethal. However, Shiva was unaffected, which was the first sign that he was the Neelkanth. He also learns that Somras was the reason why the Meluhans lived for so many years. Brahaspati and Shiva develop a close friendship, but the royal family returned to Devagiri. One morning, the whole of Meluha woke up to loud noises coming from Mount Mandar. Shiva and his troops reach the hill to find that almost a part of Mandar has been blasted off, and many of the inventors have been killed. There was no sign of Brahaspati, but Shiva found the insignia of the Nagas, confirming their presence in the treacherous wars of the Chandravanshis.

Enraged by his, Shiva declares war on the Chandravanshis. With consultation from the Devagiri Chief Minister Kanakhla and the Head of Meluhan Army, Parvateshwar, Shiva advanced towards Dharmakhet, the border area of Swadweep, the land of the Chandravanshis. A fierce battle is fought between the Meluhans and the Swadweepans, but ultimately the Meluhans win. The Chandravanshi king is captured and brought in front of Daksha. He becomes enraged seeing the Neelkanth and is taken away. It is the Chandravanshi princess, Anandmayi, who tells them that they had a similar legend that the Neelkanth will come forward to save their land by launching an assault against the evil Suryavanshis. Hearing this, Shiva is dumbfounded and is utterly distressed. With Sati he visits the famous Ram temple of Ayodhya, the capital of Swadweep. There he meets the priest from whom he comes to know about the karma, his fate, and his choices in life, which will guide him. After talking to him as Shiva comes out of the temple, he hears a scream. Running to the location he sees in horror as a group of Nagas kidnap Sati and run with them.

Characters

  • Shiva – The main character in the story. He is a Tibetan immigrant to Meluha and the chief of the Guna tribe. On arriving to Meluha and consuming the Somras (a potion), his throat turns blue making him the Neelkanth of the Meluhan legend, which speaks of the appearance of Neelkanth as a destroyer of evil. The Meluhans end up believing that Shiva would be their savior.[1]
  • Sati – A Meluhan princess, she is the daughter of King Daksha. Shiva falls in love with her but cannot marry her because of a law that considers her to be a vikarma, an untouchable. Vikarmas are people who bear misfortunes in this life due to sins of their past births. She is a skilled swords-woman and is very brave since childhood.[2]
  • Nandi – A captain in the Meluhan army. a loyal devotee of Shiva, who is often considered for his opinion and suggestions by Shiva.[3]
  • Veer Bhadra – A captain of Shiva's army and his close childhood friend. He was later renamed as Veer Bhadra, a title earned by once defeating a tiger single-handedly.[4]
  • Bŗahaspati – The chief Meluhan scientist who becomes Shiva's good friend. Though he does not believe the legend of the Neelkanth, he believes that Shiva is capable of taking Meluha to its new glory.[5]
  • Daksha – The King of the Meluhans, he is appreciative of every effort that Shiva does to save his country.[6]
  • Kanakhla – The chief minister of Daksha's royal court, Kanakhla is an extremely learned and intelligent woman, who gets into verbal conflicts with Parvateshvar regarding Shiva.[7]
  • Parvateshvar – Head of Meluhan Army and a Suryavanshi, Parvateshvar is critical of Shiva's ways with the Meluhans, and is a dedicated man to Daksha.[8]
  • Ayurvati – The Chief of Medicine, Ayurvati is another intelligent and revered woman, who is capable of curing any disease.[9]
  • Suryavanshis – The Suryavanshis are followers of Shri Ram and the Solar Calendar and try to lead a life that is as ideal as possible. The Suryavanshis believe in Satya, Dharma, Maan—truth, duty, and honor.[10]
  • Chandravanshis – The Chandravanshis are followers of the Lunar Calendar. Traditionally the Chandravanshis and Suryavanshis are enemies.[11]
  • Naga – A cursed race of people who have physical deformities. They are extremely skilled warriors.[12]

Development and publication

"And then this story happened. It wasn’t really one defining moment of epiphany. It sort of just crept up on me. Slowly, first the philosophies, and then the story to convey the philosophies. This experience has changed me. My outlook to life. My attitude. And my belief in God.[13]

—Tripathi talking about his inspiration for The Immortals of Meluha

Author Amish Tripathi is a finance professional educated from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC).[13] While working in the insurance industry, Tripathi felt that his life was devoid of any meaning or self. Ultimately he decided to take the spiritual route. He started reading on the different philosophies and the Indian mythologies.[13] One day, while watching a historical program, Tripathi and his family got into the discussion about consciousness and the evil inside man. In the program they learned that in ancient Persia, angels were known as Asuras (a term reserved for demons in Indian mythology), and demons were called Daivas (a term reserved for the Gods in Indian mythology). Tripathi added, "It set me thinking that this was exact opposite of our Vedic etymology where evil was Asura and gods were Devas. It struck me that if the two civilizations were to confront each other, they would be at stark odds and calling each other evil."[14] But when he decided to write a book about the philosophy of evil, his family discouraged him, saying that the subject itself was not popular and would get a narrow audience.[15][16] They suggested that Tripathi write a thriller/adventure novel, and the philosophy should be a part of the story, hence there would be a mainstream appeal in it. [15] Tripathi felt that no subject was better than Shiva, one of the major Hindu deity and the destroyer of evil; his journey and stories about him would deliver the philosophy that he wanted to convey, to his readers. Once he started to write a book about Shiva, he decided to base it on some fundamental beliefs of his.[17] He noted that the Hindu Gods were probably not "mythical beings or a figment of a rich imagination", but rather they were once human beings like the rest. It was their deeds in the human life that made them famous as Gods.[17]

The story was based on Meluha—the probable ancient name for the Indus Valley Civilisation, according to modern historians. Tripathi also included the Indian Royal lineage of the Sun and the Moon Dynasties, calling them Suryavanshis and Chandravanshi.[14] Tripathi had been an avid reader of history from a long time, and his other inspirations for The Immortals of Meluha ranged from writers like Graham Hancock and Gregory Possehl to the Amar Chitra Katha series of Indian comics.[14] For the mythological parts in the novel, Tripathi relied on the stories and fables that he had heard in his childhood from his family. Tripathi's grandfather was a pundit and his parents are avid readers of Indian mythology, hence he found it easy to trust what he had heard from his parents and grandparents, and relied on them for the stories in the novel.[14] Tripathi utilized Microsoft Excel to divide his writings into different parts, including characters, the plot, sub-plots and deadlines for events.[18] However, it did not work out correctly as he was losing track of events, and he gave up the strategy. Around this time, Tripathi's wife suggested an alternative. She asked him not to control the fate of his characters beforehand, but let the plot develop on its own. Tripathi applied these suggestions and the result was a smoother outflow. "Things came in bits and pieces, not in a sequence but were put into perspective later."[18]

After the book was written, Tripathi felt that it would be difficult for him to get a big publication house to publish his novel. The manuscript for The Immortals of Meluha got rejected by 35 to 40 publication houses.[14] Hence, he decided to apply his management skills and promote his book.[16] Tripathi explained with Daily News & Analysis, "I would be lying if I said that I was sure I would get a big publisher for my first novel. I was a finance guy and a staunch believer in digital marketing that has a better reach in the books market. It actually puts up a conversation rather than a two-minute wire on the same."[16] Together with his friends, Tripathi launched his promotion of the book on the internet. He put up the entire first chapter of The Immortals of Meluha as a digital download from his website, so that the readers would get interested. With the help of his musician friend Taufiq Qureshi, he launched a live-action trailer film on YouTube and built an online community in Facebook and Twitter, surrounding the video, to further hold the reader's interest.[16] Another of Tripathi's friend, Rashmi Pusalkar, designed the book cover according to his specifications, which were to keep a balance between reality and fantasy. Hence Pusalkar chose to just portray the back profile of Shiva, standing in front of a huge lake. Since Pusalkar had never designed any book covers before, she felt that the task was more daunting for her.[19] Other promotional campaigns included introducing bound versions of the first chapter of the novel, across city bookstores.[16] Tripathi felt that a celebrity name associated with the book would do wonders for its promotion. Hence he sent the book to various known faces in the publishing world like Anil Dharker and Prahlad Kakkar. Ultimately, when Tripathi's agent Anuj Tiwari decided to publish around 5,000 copies of the book himself, they already had the celebrity purview attached to it, and it helped in promotion.[18]

Critical reception

After its publication, The Immortals of Meluha received mostly positive response from contemporary critics. Pradip Bhattacharya from The Statesman felt that the "plot skips along at a brisk pace, the characters are well etched and the reader’s attention is not allowed to flag. It will be interesting to see how the trilogy progresses. One cannot but admire the creative drive that impels a finance professional to embark on such an ambitious odyssey on uncharted seas."[20] Another review by Gaurav Vasudev from the same newspaper wrote that "the book is a gripping mythological story written in modern style."[21] Devdutt Pattanaik from The Tribune commented that "the writer takes us on a sinister journey with the characters, who frequently sound as if they are one of us only."[22] Society magazine complimented Tripathi's writing by saying, "Reading this beautifully written creation is like plunging into the icy and venerable waters of the Manasarovar Lake. One can actually sense the beats of Shiva's dumru and fumes of intoxicating chillum. Simply unputdownable."[23] Nandita Sengupta from The Times of India felt that "while the author spins a tale of adventure, it could have been a slightly snappier, tighter read. Some crunching of thoughts that tended to overlap and repeat would be welcome in the next two books." However, Sengupta was most impressed by the author's crafting of Shiva as a "rough-hewn, hot-headed, a great dancer, smitten by Sati... Shiva's our definition of a hero, ready to fight for a good cause anytime."[24]

Lisa Mahapatra from 'The New Indian Express was impressed with the story and Tripathi's writing and praised "the interactions between Shiva and Sati, [which were] intriguing. Age-old thoughts and philosophies were delivered in a very modern context, which I thought made for an interesting juxtaposition." Mahapatra added that "the only downside throughout the novel, I was unable to really get into the main characters—they remained mostly on a two-dimensional level."[25] It received a mixed review from Hindustan Times, where the reviewer was critical of Tripathi's usage of common, everyday language. "There are many other subtle depictions of Lord Ram and other characters and overall its very well written. I wrote to Amish to express one small observation, the script writing is not that sharp. You have words like 'Goddamnit', 'bloody hell', 'In the name of God what is this nonsense?' etc, which I guess would be great for an Indian audience but after you just finish a Steven Erikson novel you find it falling a little flat," the reviewer concluded.[26]

Commercial performance

The Immortals of Meluha was a commercial success. Just after a week of its publication in February 2010, the book hit the best seller list of several magazines and newspapers, including The Statesman, The Economic Times, The Times of India, Rolling Stone India, among others.[19] The book had to be re-printed for another 5,000 copies thrice within the next week, and by the end of July, it had sold around 45,000 copies across India.[19] Both Tripathi and Tiwari decided that a transfer of the rights of the book to a larger publisher was needed, so as to take the book to higher grounds.[19] Many publishers bid for it, but they went with Westland Publishers, who had been the distributing partner for the book.[19] The Westland edition of the book was published on September 10, 2010, in Delhi amidst a media frenzy.[21] It was launched by former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor, who praised it.[21] The edited version of The Immortals of Meluha was accompanied by the release of an audio book for the novel.[21] In total the book has sold around 125,000 copies, making it one of the best selling fiction of all-time.[27] </ref>

References

  1. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 3, 45–49
  2. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 34, 78
  3. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 13
  4. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 4, 90
  5. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 119
  6. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 67–71
  7. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 62
  8. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 65
  9. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 13–16
  10. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 44
  11. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 72
  12. ^ The Immortals of Meluha, 2010, p. 32
  13. ^ a b c "Shiva Trilogy – About The Author". Shiva Trilogy. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  14. ^ a b c d e Sachdeva, Rana (2010-12-10). "The Immortals of Meluha: Interview with Amish Tripathi". The Times of India. 1452. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. OCLC 23379369.
  15. ^ a b "Author Amish Tripathi talks about life at IIM-C". Indian Institute of Management. 2010-04-29. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  16. ^ a b c d e Chakraberti, Sujata (2010-04-09). "Amish Tripathi's going digital". Daily News & Analysis. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  17. ^ a b "Shiva Trilogy – About Shiva". Shiva Trilogy. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  18. ^ a b c Molekhi, Pankaj (2010-09-12). "Meet the mortal of Meluha". The Economic Times. 238. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. OCLC 61311680.
  19. ^ a b c d e Tripathi, Amish (2010-09-01). "The MBA Writer". OPEN. 35. Open Media Network Pvt Ltd.
  20. ^ Bhattacharya, Pradip (2010-10-07). "In Antidiluvian India". The Statesman. Statesman India Ltd. Retrieved 2011-01-09.
  21. ^ a b c d Vasudev, Gaurav (2010-09-19). "Shiva Re-loaded". The Statesman. Statesman India Ltd.
  22. ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt (2010-09-19). "Mythology, management and more". The Tribune. 982. Tribune Trust: 21.
  23. ^ "Book Reviews for April 2010". Society. Condenast Publications Ltd. 2010-04-23. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  24. ^ Sengupta, Nandita (2010-04-22). "Shiva in a New Light". The Times of India. 1408. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. OCLC 23379369.
  25. ^ Mahapatra, Lisa (2010-03-11). "The Raconteur". The New Indian Express. 21. Express Publications Ltd.: 4. OCLC 243883379.
  26. ^ "The Immortals of Meluha: A review". Hindustan Times. HT Media Ltd. 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  27. ^ Sales info of The Immortals of Meluha:
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