“Finally crossed the barriers of distaste caused by the 'thrust-it-on' promotional drive and the ill-designed cover page of 'The Immortals of Meluha' to take the first look at what lay inside...” – I posted on Facebook the day I chose to check for myself whether it was marketing gimmick alone that made Ameesh Tripathy’s debut work an overnight bestseller.
And bang came the first comment that buttressed my
skepticism - “Antara my dear, it’s a disaster, I fell for this deal and ordered
both ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ and ‘The Secret of the Nagas’. The first book
made me ‘LOL & sob’ at the dialogues and quality of the language used…”
Well, now that I’ve completed the book, I’ll rather liberate
myself from evaluating it on the basis of its literary merit. To me - ‘The
Immortals of Meluha’ owes its phenomenal success to a GROUND-BREAKING IDEA, teeming
with ingredients to sell like a hot cake – of course, with the right visibility.
It’s an idea trivialized by a quality of language so mediocre that the book
risks being dismissed by serious readers; but an idea bolstered by marked
originality, ample drama, and of course unforeseen promotion – so that it was readily
lapped up by the film makers of prominence. The book, for all its appeal,
cannot be called a worthwhile piece of ‘literature’, and yet for me - it has
been quite a read that has significantly influenced my attitude towards history,
religion and mythology.
