Anu and Abhi on Meluha
Anu; I loved it :) and i think it is not distortion at all because it is a novel ...fiction ...inspired by Indian mythology...And I love the fact that the author treats mythology as it should be...i.e., like a story...which can be told and retol...d from varying perspectives...and not guarded under locks and keys by religious zealots... It is a fact that Ravana, is considered a kind-hearted saviour king in Tamil Nadu and Ram is considered equally good in most of North India...whereas in Kerala, it is Krishna who is more popular...There are no universal truths as far as mythology is considered...there are only stories which have now unfortunately become sacrosanct thanks to our own equivalents to western clergy...
Abhijeet : may be i ll sound as an extremist if i am aware of the myths n the history...bt ill take the risk...myths are also kind of fiction..bt a kind which has been created by a society/more than one person..and fiction though has all the fr...eedom it is bound by plot,characters and settiing..u cant mess with these basics i mean one can bt then it ll be insane blurring..for example narnia is an excellent fiction bt u cant hve fighter jets in thr...or talking lion in transformers..these are wildest imaginations then also..so if meluha happens in 1200bc/he says so called indus valley (at the same time doesnt tell us if it is wrong)...there are so many things which do not fit in and show lack of research and study by the auth..
Eg. There was nothing called as Maika in ancient india.thr is no mention of it anywhere.i dnt mean only d mythological stories bt vedas n upanishdas n also logical conclusions of historians n social Scientists..there was no this word india......then..when some one says nilkanth has come to save india thats ridiculous may be funny bt...sad..i hvent read it completly i couldnt..and when u say things abt ravan being worshipped in south i must say even ramayan praises ravan for all his good virtues and laxman became his deciple..he is popular thr cause of ethnic proximity..n as far as krishna being fav..its history thr was a phase of staunch shaiv school of thought n rise of a modarate vaishnav thought so thr r pockets all over india of these..- Good fiction is tale of two cities where the story flows with history...or something like galdiator or jurasic park for that matter..... off course i hve no understanding of litrature as such n hve no right to judge good or bad..may be i expected more than i sd hve from meluha.. :(
Anu ; Abhi, the thing about Meluha is that it is not only mythology based fiction , it is also a kind of fan-fiction... the author is a clear fan of Shiva....Now he has chosen Myth as his basic plot and ancient Indian history as a setting for his story. With that he has an endless creative license with him to tell his story in any which way he wants....and we as readers have the right to interpret it the way we like it...It can not only defy logic , but also make it somersault ! So the question of it being right or true doesn't arise...It is as much as his story as of anybody who reads it...because clearly each one of us read the story in our way...- The author is not validating or contradicting history...He is just telling a story...The characters of his story are from mythology but the moment he chose them for his story...they are like his puppets, he can make them say or do anything...( of course, there is the point about religious sentiments being hurt, if he goes to far...but in this case, he doesn't ruffle any feathers...he is just being playful) ....The author is from the present century and it is quite natural that he makes his character act and behave according to the customs of the present times... There is nothing in the rulebook to say he cannot, and of course, as far as fiction is concerned, the rulebook can go to hell...the individual readers can decide the book's fate...I enjoyed it for its sheer cheek...and you didn't...It is as simple as that :)
- Anu ; Dear, what you call plot holes, I call an attempt at Magic Realism :)And abhi, have you heard of the term "willing suspension of disbelief"? check it out :)
Abhijeet;
ahh...okk..dat means devid dhawan n govinda can make a movie out of it.....ha ha ha...my bad my bad... n i did check 'sod'...off course meluha needs it to cover up the ''plot holes''..n needs suspension of judgement....so let's suspend it...
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