1. Immortals of Meluha Book Review Good Tastes Club Feb 2013

2. Video - Trilogy 3. Introduction Trilogy Immortals of Meluha is the first book of the Shiva Trilogy The book is based in ancient India in 1900 BC which is towards latter part of the Indus Valley Civilization There are two other books with the second part called The Secret of the Nagas which was published in 2011 The last book is called The Oath of the Vayuputras which isdue for release on Feb 27th, 2013 4. Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) Bronze Age Civilisation between 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE Is the worlds largest known ancient civilisation spread over 1.25 M sq kms Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-Daro and Dholavira were the largest cities IVC cities are famous for the use of brick, multi storied houses, use of wheel and other transportation techniques and their understanding of science and technology Another important aspect is their use of complicated drainage systems and significance of water in their lives 5. IVC Continued The people of IVC were familiar with boats and sails and appear to have travelled afar by sea as well Ancient texts suggest that the Sumerian name for IVC was Meluha and there existed trading links between the 2 famous civilisations Some historians even argue that IVC morphed into what we call the Vedic civilisation with the start of the Iron Age instead of whatconventional history says The IVC text is yet to be deciphered which makes the civilisation as mysterious as ever 6. Basic premise of the book The book is the story of a perfect society of Meluha which is going through turmoil and its very existence is threatened The people believe in the legend of the Neelkanth, the destroyer of evil who will come and destroy evil The Neelkanth will be identified when he drinks Somras the drink of the gods and his throat will turn blue in colour The central character of the book is Shiva, a tribal chief from Tibet who is an immigrant to Meluha. Shiva is the person whose throat turns blue when he drinks the Somras 7. Basic premise continued Shiva seems to be an unwilling Neelkanth at first and seems to be searching for his own destiny The perfection of Meluha and love of their people drives him to help them more as a warrior than a God As his quest continues Shiva delves further into the land to try and understand about the fight against evil that he has been chosen for At the end of the first book Shiva is still searching for many answers that will explain his destiny 8. Complicated Book? Book on God but as a human Surely will upset the religious Are younger readers really interested in mythology or spirituality that this book deals with? A fictional book based in 1900 BCE is surely of no interest to historians either Who is this book appealing to? 9. Conceptual framework Authors interpretation of Man, Karma, Myths and the Mahadev The belief that who we call Gods were actually men in flesh andbones but achieved super human status due to their deeds their karma Mahadev or the God of Gods is the person who destroys evil at its peak This book is about the second Mahadev, a man called Shiva who comes to India from the shores of the Mansarovar Lake 10. Perfect cocktail? Treating of mythology as a jumbled memory of a true past Re-interpreting concepts like Somras, Caste system and Karma Providing an interesting idea on the drainage system of IVC and giving new perspective to history Humanisation of Shiva by describing his affection for dance and smoking Elevation of a human to super human status because of his deeds and deeds only 11. Criticism of the book Some critics believe that the story loses focus along the way Usage of jokes with an English concept in an Indian content Infusing of IVC and the Vedic period 12. About the Author The author is Amish Tripathi an IIM Kolkatta graduate and ex banker Gave up his self proclaimed boring banker career to take up writing full time. The Shiva Trilogy has since become a bestseller having sold more than a million copies and translated in various languages Unique book in terms of the marketing strategy across the Internet in general and social media in particular 13. Innovative marketing 14. Similarities to Da Vinci Code Concept of a man in flesh and bones now elevated to the status of God The trials and tribulations of this person as he searches for his true calling Effective mix of history, mythology and spirituality Walking a tight rope on religious sentiments 15. Further reading http://shivatrilogy.com Underworld by Graham Hancock Alternate versions of Indian history Legend of Lemuria and Kumari Kandam 16. Thank You