The Immortals of Meluha

A title that was rejected by plenty of publishing companies until one finally accepted the story and published it. This book, within a week of its release, was the buzz word you could hear everywhere around you if you are surrounded by book-lovers. This book, released in February 2010, became an instant hit, selling over 125000 copies, and the demand for the book was so huge that it had to be reprinted several times to keep up with the demand. It became one of the best selling novels of 2010.

I kept away from this book, till a week ago, when I decided to read the book. I tend to not read Hindu mythology in a language other than Tamil, and I was of the opinion that this is a mythological book until I read a small piece of it at Landmark. Misled by the cover picture, I thought it was some sort of religious remake of existing Hindu mythology.

I order this book online (Flipkart) along with its successor, The Secret of the Nagas. I read the complete book in less than a day. The book is about – What if Lord Shiva was not a figment of rich imagination, but a person of flesh and blood – a man who was raised to become godlike because of his karma.

These lines attracted me further. An interesting plot. The novel revolves around the protagonist Shiva, who is a Tibetan immigrant to the land of Meluha, a perfect ancient India as Amish has described, how he pursues Sati (Parvati) with all his deepest love, and how his karma recasts him as our Mahadev, God of Gods.

For those who think this is only for Hindus, you are wrong. It has nothing to do with Hinduism. It has all the perfect society that could be imagined to exist 4000 years ago, a period where this novel is set.

If this book is plainly read, it is yet another novel, with a different plot, blending myth and history, with volumes of fabulous imagination. Amish has blended all the important characters of our Hindu mythology with vibrant imagination, and has cast a beautiful narrative out of it. Plainly read, the narrative is quite predictable. At least, I felt that way. I loved some of the explanations given for the society that Amish has created. The Maika system, Somras, Vikarma etc. are to be really appreciated.

If you look deeper into what this book tells us, a whole lot of philosophy is hidden within a wonderful story line. 

a.   We, as individuals should be judged only by our karma, not by caste, religion, region, etc.

b.   What is evil? – Something that is different from your world of ideas
are some of them.

Talking about the author, Amish Tripathi is an MBA turned writer, and is now writing the third book in the Shiva Trilogy, The Oath of the Vayuputras. Though the story line is simple, his imagination and the blending of characters into it, and infusing his philosophical ideas into it is worth appreciating. Another aspect I loved when I checked out this book at Flipkart was the video trailer for this book. It is definitely a cool way of attracting even non-readers out there.

I have the second part of the Trilogy in hand. Let's see what this creative author has to say about the Nagas.

2 States - the story of my marriage

We have probably read quite a number of novels by foreign authors. But something that is most appealing is when we can relate to our life the most. And Chetan Bhagat is a writer who gives novels that relates to our lives some way or the other. Of all the books he has written so far, this I would say will be more appealing to a specific group of Indians, the Punjabis', the Tamizhs' and IIM-A grads. I was excited to read the synopsis, and the umpteen number of comments that the author received for his latest book "2 States - The Story Of My Marriage". And the more surprising part is that he has dedicated this book to his in-laws himself having been in a situation similar to the storyline in the book.

Too much being already written about the book, I assume this is just yet another review. There are some notable areas of the book to which some of us can relate to:

1. IIM-A

2. Tamizh Brahmins (Non-brahmins can also equally relate to it, in my opinion)

3. Punjabis' ( I guess North Indians can generally relate to it; I am not sure though)

4. Citibank (Not sure what it is to be actually in Citibank, though)

The plot begins with life at IIM-A. Krish (Krish Malhotra) and Ananya (Ananya Swaminathan) begin their journey at IIM-A. Ananya is described as beautiful and attractive who has already received 10 proposals even at the start of her life at IIMA. Krish and Ananya meet up, become friends, and then fall in love with each other. Life at IIMA has the usual college sequence. Krish secures a job at Citibank(posted to Chennai) and Ananya at HLL (Chennai).

As Chetan has rightly portrayed in this novel, in India, marriage is not just a union of two hearts, but the union of two families. So here they are struggling a battle to win the hearts of both the parents. It is an interesting journey which the couple take to reach their goal.

The author has rightly described the way a North Indian would feel about South India. And the mindset of a South Indian home is just perfect in its description. Krish was diplomatic in dealing with Ananya's family and winning each of their hearts. The Punjabi families' description was fun to read, but I could hardly acknowledge the description to the truth behind me being a Tamilian.

Something that made me think was the way the people think. India would become lot better if inter-religious marriages can happen. A change in the mindset of people is a definite necessity today. There is a lot of importance given to complexion and money in the north while I felt these are not just the only two elements that will decide happiness in a family. The South Indians are more worried about the culture and their community being modified.

This book as many have already pointed out, is in a ready-to-be-made movie format. If only this could be made into a successful movie, people might end up learning what exactly is lacking in India that would make it a better country to live in. Living amidst numerous cultures and being tolerant towards each other is good; people should also realize that we are 'One India' and love is definitely above location/religion/appearance. True Love can win over any hard circumstances, if determined.

'We are Indians first' and only then S.Indians/N.Indians and Hindus/Sikhs etc. When India wakes up to this truth and lives together as a nation readily accepting other religions/culture amongst the families themselves, India will rise up to the status of being a truly secular country.

The book brings in this point from Krish and Ananya's conversation every now and then. The novel ends on a positive note, saying the future will live in a state named 'India' and not Punjab or Tamil Nadu. This is the kind of attitude that every Indian should develop.

The book is for light entertaining reading. Grab a cup of coffee, sit on your favorite couch, relax with a bit of music and get ready for the latest youth entertainer that Chetan has given us.

Chetan has become one of my favorite writers now given the fact that he writes stuff that we can personally relate to our lives, be it college education, hostel life, or approaching parents seeking for acceptance of love and being 'Indian'.

Favourite Lines from "Eleven Minutes"

I would like to add some of my favourite picks from the book, "Eleven Minutes" by Coelho; most of them are quite valuable as well:

"Really important things are planned by the soul long before the bodies see each other."

“At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss.”

“When we meet someone and fall in love, we have a sense that the whole universe is on our side. And yet if something goes wrong, there is nothing left! How is it possible for the beauty that was there only minutes before to vanish so quickly? Life moves very fast. It rushes from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds.”

“I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It’s all a question of how I view my life.”

“(Don’t) listen to the malicious comments of those friends who, never taking any risks themselves, can only see other people’s failures.”

“If I can walk on my own, I can go wherever I like.”

“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.”

“Despite her apparent freedom, her life consisted of endless hours spent waiting for a miracle, for true love, for an adventure with the same romantic ending she had seen in films and read about in books. A writer once said that it is not time that changes a man, nor knowledge; the only thing that can change someone’s mind is love. What nonsense! The person who wrote that clearly knew only one side of the coin. Love was undoubtedly one of the things capable of changing a person’s whole life, from one moment to the next. But there was the other side of the coin, the second thing that could make a human being take a totally different course from the one he or she had planned; and that was called despair. Yes, perhaps love really could transform someone, but despair did the job more quickly.”

“Humans can withstand a week without water, two weeks without food, many years of homelessness, but not loneliness. It is the worst of all tortures, the worst of all sufferings.”

“In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each of us responsible for our own feeling and cannot blame someone else for what we feel.”

“Considering the way the world is, one happy day is almost a miracle.”

“That’s my one great virtue: I refuse to deceive myself of you. Because it’s not worth it, because you don’t merit a lie.”

“As if everything had been ordained by fate, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if she had known this man all her life or had already lived this moment in dreams and now knew what to do in reality…”

“If he was the man she wanted him to be, he would not be intimidated by her silence.”

“Love is not to be found in someone else, but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But in order to do that, we need the other person. The universe only makes sense when we have someone to share our feelings with.”

“I’ve learned that waiting is the most difficult bit, and I want to get used to the feeling, knowing that you’re with me, even when you’re not by my side.”

“Now she was searching once more for her reason for living, or, rather, for the kind of utter surrender by which a person offers his or her heart and asks for nothing in return.”

“Profound desire, true desire is the desire to be close to someone. From that point onwards, things change, the man and the woman come into play, but what happens before–the attraction that brought them together–is impossible to explain. It is untouched desire in its purest state. When desire is still in this pure state, the man and the woman fall in love with life, they live each moment reverently, consciously, always ready to celebrate the next blessing. When people feel like this, they are not in a hurry, they do not precipitate events with unthinking actions. They know that the inevitable will happen, that what is real always finds a way of revealing itself. When the moment comes, they do not hesitate, they do not miss an opportunity, they do not let slip a single magic moment, because they respect the importance of each second.”

“Now that she had nothing to lose, she was free.”

“And that was now her great joy: to say to reality that she didn’t need it, that she was not longer dependent on what happened in order to be happy.”

“Anyone who is in love is making love the whole time, even when they’re not. When two bodies meet, it is just the cup overflowing. They can stay together for hours, even days. They begin the dance one day and finish it the next, or–such is the pleasure they experience–they may never finish it. No eleven minutes for them.”

“Every human being experiences his or her own desire; it is part of our personal treasure and, although, as an emotion, it can drive people away, generally speaking, it brings those who are important to us closer. It is an emotion chosen by my soul, and it is so intense that it can infect everything and everyone around me. Each day I choose the truth by which I try to live. I try to be practical, efficient, professional. But I would like to be able always to choose desire as my compassion. Not out of obligation, not to lesson my loneliness, but because it is good. Yes, very good.”

“The strongest love is the love that can demonstrate its fragility. Anyway, if my love is real (and not just a way of distracting myself, deceiving myself, and passing the time that never seems to pass in this city), freedom will conquer jealousy and any pain it causes me, since pain is also part of the natural process. Anyone who practices sport know of this: if you want to achieve your objectives, you have to be prepared for a daily dose of pain or discomfort. At first, it’s unpleasant and de motivating, but in time you’ll come to realize that it’s part of the process of feeling good, and the moment arrives when, if you don’t feel pain, you have a sense that the exercises aren’t having the desired effect.”

“The world enjoys suffering and pain. There’s sadism in the way we look at these things, and masochism in our conclusion that we don’t need to know all this in order to be happy, and yet we watch other people’s tragedies and sometimes suffer along with them.”

“As I say, it’s the human condition. Ever since we were expelled from paradise, we have either been suffering, making other people suffer or watching the suffering of others. It’s beyond our control.”

“Why was it that in God’s holy world men were only interested in showing her pain. Sacred pain, pain with pleasure, pain with explanations or without, but always pain, pain, pain…”

“‘I felt that pain is a woman’s friend.’ ‘That is the danger.’ ‘I also felt that pain has it’s limits.’ ‘That is the salvation. Don’t forget that.’”

“That’s why I’m telling you: don’t get used to it, because it’s very easy to become habituated; it’s a very powerful drug. It’s in our daily lives, in our hidden suffering, in the sacrifices we make, blaming love for the destruction of our dreams. Pain is frightening when it shows its real face, but it’s seductive when it comes disguised as sacrifice or self-denial. Or cowardice. However much we may reject it, we human being always find a way of being with pain, of flirting with it and making it part of our lives.”

“Pain and suffering are used to justify the only thing that should bring only joy: love.”

“I need to love–that’s all, I need to love. Life is too short, or too long, for me to allow myself the luxury of living it so badly.”

“Always making plans for the future, and always being surprised by the present.”

“Original sin was not the apple that Eve ate, it was her belief that Adam needed to share precisely the thing she had tasted. Eve was afraid to follow her path without someone to help her, and so she wanted to share what she was feeling. Certain things cannot be shared. Nor can we be afraid of the oceans into which we plunge of our own free will; fear cramps everyone’s style. Man goes through hell in order to understand this. Love one another, but let’s not try to possess one another.”

She made this promise because she knew love’s traps all too well, and knew how easily they can change a woman’s mind.”

“In all the languages in the world, there is the same proverb: ‘What the eyes don’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over.’ Well, I say that there isn’t an ounce of truth in it. The further off they are, the closer to the heart are all those feelings that we try to repress and forget. If we’re in exile, we want to store away every tiny memory of our roots. If we’re far from the person we love, everyone we pass in the street reminds us of them.”

“The only thing she could do now was to shed a few tears, feeling rather afraid of herself, an intelligent young woman, who had everything going for her, but who tended to make wrong decisions. She just hoped that this time she was right.”

I guess people who have not read this novel till now, will feel like reading this, inspired by the lines above. Wishing you all happy reading !!

My Views on Eleven Minutes

'Eleven Minutes' is a novel by Paulo Coelho that I read recently. I ve done 'The Alchemist' and 'The Witch Of Portobello' by Coelho sometime back. I was then quite convinced that Coelho's works are worth spending time with. I ve started falling in love with his works, of late. Its really exciting and thought-provoking as he takes us to the various dimensions of the human mind and thoughts. I did 'Eleven Minutes' this week, and I was so excited about the real-life emotions he has portrayed. I have a mixed feeling about this work of his, because he has dealt with a subject that was harsh, difficult and shocking, because, it covers the subject that is the most tabooed till today. I guess you know, what the three letter word is, by now.

The novel begins by the line 'Once upon a time, there lived...', which gives us the impression that the author has tried writing a fairy tale. But in course of time, you will realize that it is actually not. I had a mixed feeling after finishing the novel, and I am short of words to describe what I felt while I read the novel. At first, I started feeling a little uncomfortable reading the novel. But as I brushed through more pages, I could really understand what the author has tried to illustrate through his pretty character and the protoganist, 'Maria'. I put aside all my apprehensions and perspectives about the novel and did the novel with a plain mind. This novel I realized, has a great value associated with it. Some or most of us, might not acknowledge the complete value of it, but it is really an interesting piece of work. To better understand what the novel has tried to talk about, you need to have a clear head; otherwise, it will just been another novel that people think is 'tabooed'. 

But its not just the tabooed subject that the author has concentrated on, but on the virtues of innermost human feelings, specifically, those which everyone of us keeps for ourselves. Coelho, through various customers, talks through Maria's customers, what kind of suffering different kind of people can have, and he finally talks about suffering,ie., pain as a kind of pleasure if endured willfully. It is the most difficult thing to digest probably but it gives immense pleasure for people who have learnt to accept it. 

I was taken away by the way he has portrayed the heart of a woman. For a man, I thought it is quite difficult to understand the feelings and emotions of a woman, the way she thought about the unanswered questions of her life. But Coelho has written a woman as though he has penetrated the depths of every woman's heart. Every woman might have similar thoughts in her innermost soul, though she might defend herself from finding answers for it. This book will serve a good reading for both men and women who are willing to accept the complexities of human soul. 

As a plain speak about this novel, Maria is in search of true love, which is when she decides on travelling to Switzerland, where she embraces the most tabooed profession ever, to make a living for a year. She is focussed on her plans to save money, and buy a farm, build a house for her mother. She encounters a variety of personalities in her clientele and thereby understands what the world is like. This descriptions gives an insight into the varieties of personalities who exist in the world. The rest of the novel talks if she has attained the purpose of her search. 

The diary that Maria maintained throughout is an excellent part of her analysis of human beings around her. I guess by now, my long time confusion has come to an end. The confusion was if I have to maintain a personal diary or not. I am convinced that maintaining a diary, not only puts to paper your thoughts, but also makes you analyse everything we put into the diary, thereby getting the most about life out of your experience. Maria, as I could understand did a lot of her analysis as she penned them down. Maria had the courage to take any opportunity in life as it comes. How many of us are that brave ( even for simple tasks) ?

The people who read this book can think of any one of the following :

1. Is it just about Maria, a woman who faced all adversities of life?

Is it about just her happiness (individual) ?

2. Is it about interpreting and living your life which is bounded by our partly understood complexity of life?

If we start analysing ourselves very seriously, we will have several questions in our mind when we finish the novel:

Who am I?

What is my destiny?

Am I going in the path that is destined for me?

As I read through various views of this novel, I discovered that some people did have negative opinion about this novel. My opinion is that those who have negative opinion about this novel, just took the blind form of Maria and did not look at what Coelho has written through her. Coelho has used a character and some incidents of her life to tell us some real facts about life which most of us fail to analyse. Coelho's thoughts and analyses are too much for us to grasp, atleast for me, at this age.

It does not take just 'eleven minutes' to read this book, but the analyses done revolving around the 'eleven minutes' of each one's life is worth a gift to be received from this great Brazilian author/philosophist, Paulo Coelho.

Concluding, I would say, 'Eleven Minutes' is a great inspiration for me which enabled me to think of life from a different angle and look into the depths of life. It has given a new life to my life. Thanks to Coelho for spreading his light into his readers.