DOCSLIB.ORG

Retelling Gods Through Different Tales- a Comparative Analysis of the Writings of Contemporary Indian Writers Devdutt Patanaik &

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Retelling Gods Through Different Tales- a Comparative Analysis of the Writings of Contemporary Indian Writers Devdutt Patanaik & Volume II, Issue IX, January 2015 - ISSN 2321-7065 Retelling Gods through different tales- A comparative analysis of the writings of Contemporary Indian writers DevDutt Patanaik & Amish Tripathi Noopur Jha Lecturer University of Petroleum & Energy Studies Dehradun ABSTRACT Many perceive India as a country of intolerant and conservative religious groups who tend to sabotage any voice that doesn’t resonate with theirs. However, there is a larger segment within the country which questions religious beliefs on ground of logic while appreciating what is good and beautiful in a culture (any culture). From this segment of people arise writers like Amish Tripathi and Devdutt Patanaik who have taken an attempt to retell Hindu mythology. Both of them, with their own unique approach, have attempted to do what would have been considered a taboo just sometime before- rewriting a Hindu God. This paper will analyze and compare the writing styles of both the writers taking a look at a few of their popular books. The attempt will be to bring out the similarities and uniqueness of the writers. Also, the paper will be set in the premise of the contemporary mythological books gaining ground with the Indian readers. http://www.ijellh.com 181 Volume II, Issue IX, January 2015 - ISSN 2321-7065 INTRODUCTION Indian mythology with its rich line of stories and archetypical characters has been an area of interest among authors across the globe; be it classical authors who write about Indian Gods with their larger than life image or recent attempts by Indian authors to humanize them. The idea of rewriting a God has almost always been accepted by the readers as well as the publishers. The condition however is that the interpretation is not very deviant from the common belief as was the case with Wendy Doniger’s “The Hindus-An alternative History” which had to be withdrawn from the market owing to the series of protests against it. i The concept of interpretation in Indian mythology is not entirely new. The two pillars of mythological literature are ‘Sruti’ and ‘Smriti’. Sruti refers to the divine literature which is believed to have had no human intervention in its makingii. Smriti on the other hand is what is remembered by the sages and put to words, needless to say with their own subjective interpretationsiii. Although Sruti enjoys a greater status than Smriti when it comes to authority, nonetheless, the concept of remembered texts passed on to generation by sages has been there in Indian mythology. The attempt to retell mythology can have several approaches to it. The televised versions of Ramananad Sagar’s Ramayana and Mahabharat portrayed Gods in the similar larger than life image which made them extremely popular with the Indian masses at that time. The thrust in the more recent times, however, has been to respectfully humanize the Gods, thus bringing them closer to people. The same can be seen in Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy. The trend was started by Ashok Banker through his series of 8 books where he rewrote the story of Ramayana. A more intellectual and insightful edge was added to it by Devdutt Pattanaik who also works as a leadership consultant, whose work focuses on deriving management insights from mythology to reveal a very Indian approach to modern business. The idea that Amish Tripathi’s Immortal of Meluha was rejected 20 times by publishers before indicates that there probably wasn’t an established market for that kind of writing.iv Or possibly there were doubts about the acceptance of text that humanizes Shiva the God’s God. But the series turned out to be a great success. So much so that it became the first book series to have music http://www.ijellh.com 182 Volume II, Issue IX, January 2015 - ISSN 2321-7065 album dedicated to it. This is indicative of a trend where readers are willing to accept and appreciate sensible interpretations. http://www.ijellh.com 183 Volume II, Issue IX, January 2015 - ISSN 2321-7065 BACKGROUND OF THE WRITERS Devdutt Pattanaik Devdutt Pattanaik is a famous author and mythologist. Devdutt’s parents migrated from Odisha to Mumbai over 50 years ago. He was born and brought up in Mumbai, and he currently lives in Mumbai. He has two sisters, and two nephews. He was a trained medical practitioner before he left it for writing. The celebrated writer has worked for over 15 years in the healthcare industry, with companies such as Apollo Health Street and Sanofi Aventis, before joining Ernst & Young as Business Advisor. Devdutt has also worked as leadership consultant, deriving management insights from mythology to reveal a very Indian approach to modern business. He has written over 30 books, with best-sellers like Myth = Mithya, Business Sutra, The Pregnant King, and Jaya: An illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata. His books have been translated in multiple Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati and Marathi. He continues to study and write on mythological stories and symbols, alongside drawing insights about business, leadership, and modern life. He also writes on management and culture regularly in The Economic Times (Corporate Dossier supplement), Mid-Day, Speaking Tree and the DailyO (India Today website). Devdutt has also worked as the Chief Belief Officer of Future Group and is now a much sought-after public speaker and culture consultant for corporations and business leaders. Additionally, Reliance consults him on matters related to culture and Star TV on various mythological serials. v Amish Tripathi Amish Tripathi is an IIM (Kolkata)-educated boring banker turned happy author. The success of his first book, The Immortals of Meluha of the Shiva Trilogy, encouraged him to give up a fourteen-year-old career in financial services to focus on writing. He is passionate about history, mythology, philosophy and is an ardent admirer of the Lord Shiva. http://www.ijellh.com 184 Volume II, Issue IX, January 2015 - ISSN 2321-7065 Amish has most recently written the Shiva Trilogy which includes The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas & The Oath of the Vayuputras, which has sold over 2 million copies in India since 2010, grossing over Rs 500 million and making the Shiva Trilogy the fastest selling books series in Indian history. The books that he plans to write in the future are also in the areas of mythology & history. He has over 14 years of experience in the financial services industry. His last job was as National Head - Marketing & Product Management and Member of the Senior Management Committee at IDBI Federal Life Insurance.vi The Tribal Warrior versus The Earth’s Daughter The Immortals of Meluha is Amish’s first book in the series of Shiva Trilogy and Devdutt’s Sita is a version of Ramayan through Sita’s eyes. Taking a close look at both the books gives a rich insight into the writing styles of the authors. It also helps in understanding how Amish’s writing is different from Devdutt’s. Sita is a version of Ramayan, a retelling, a very small part of the huge texts and interpretations written around the legendary king Ram and his wife, the Queen Sita. Devdutt, right in the prologue of the book states this fact. The author makes no assertions as to being able to cover all that is said and known about the Goddess in the book, but humbly states the story as he could gather from the various interpretations that he has read. “Within all these stories is the truth. Who knows it all? Varuna has but a thousand eyes; Indra, a hundred; You and I only two.” (Pattanaik 2013). The high note of the book Sita is that it has information tables across all chapters. These tables enlist views that are known and written about the various characters and incidents of Ramayan across India and beyond. For instance, the name of Sita’s mother is different across different interpretation of Ramayan (Pattanaik 2013). Although the author chooses to take up one name, and consequently one version of it, he mentions the rest in the information tables duly. This reflects on the authors understanding of Smriti which forms the pillar of Hindu mythology and literary texts. It also shows the author’s reluctance to project a personal favorite version among the options available. The treatment of the protagonist Sita is very objectively done by the author. http://www.ijellh.com 185 Volume II, Issue IX, January 2015 - ISSN 2321-7065 On the other hand, Amish’s Immortals of Meluha reflects the author’s personal admiration for the Lord by the way he characterizes Shiva, the tribal warrior. The story entails how a human of flesh and blood becomes Godlike through his deeds. Despite of the author’s personal sentiments, he tries to keep the protagonist as human as possible to the point where Shiva introspects about the mistakes that he made in his past life and his total reluctance to be called the chosen Neelkanth, the Destroyer of Evil. “I don’t deserve any destiny. If these people knew of my guilt, they would stop this bullshit instantly”, thought Shiva. (Tripathi 2010) Interestingly, Amish chose to have his own explanations for the various incidents known about the Lord Shiva. The Neelkanth or the blue neck of Shiva has been explained as the consequence of drinking poison by the Lord as quoted by Dr. K K Aggarwal.vii The book however calls it the consequence of drinking a life giving potion called Somras which eventually turns out to be the evil that the protagonist would fight against. There isn’t a major diversion in what is already known commonly, but Amish has attempted to add his own subjective interpretations to it making the book all the more interesting.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Issues of War in the Immortals of Meluha
    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND TRANSLATION STUDIES (IJELR) A QUARTERLY, INDEXED, REFEREED AND PEER REVIEWED OPEN ACCESS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL http://www.ijelr.in (Impact Factor : 5.9745 (ICI) KY PUBLICATIONS RESEARCH ARTICLE ARTICLE Vol. 5. Issue.1., 2018 (Jan-Mar) ISSUES OF WAR IN THE IMMORTALS OF MELUHA RITIKA PAUL Research Scholar, Department of English, Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. ABSTRACT The issue of war had been relevant in all ages which also figures prominently in the Immortals of Meluha. It seems to question war on the one hand and draws attention towards the present on the other. Wars are an organized and prolonged conflict that is carried out by states. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, social disruption and economic destruction. It is an intentional widespread conflict between political communities. War leads to destruction of human and natural RITIKA PAUL resources. War leads to pervasive violence in the name of justice and revenge. In the novel various battles are fought between Guna and Prakritis, Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi, Naga and Suryavanshi. Keywords: Meluha, Shiva, war. Introduction Amish Tripathi is a finance professional educated from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He is passionate about history, mythology and philosophy. He is an avid reader of history and his inspirations for the story ranged from writers like Graham Hancock and Gregory Possehl to the Amar Chitra Katha series of Indian comics. The Immortals of Meluha, the first novel in Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi, is also heavily embedded in Indian mythology. The Shiva Trilogy comprises three parts: The Immortals of Meluha, The Secrets of the Nagas and The Oath of Vayuputras.
    [Show full text]
  • Application of Langinus' Resources of Sublimity in Amish Tripathi's The
    International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE) ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-9 Issue-2, December 2019 Application of Langinus’ Resources of Sublimity in Amish Tripathi’s The Immortals of Meluha R. Manikandan, M. R. Bindu Abstract: Longinus, besides being one of the most famous III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ancient philosophers, contributed enormously to the field of art GRANDEUR OF THOUGHTS and literature; his concept of ‘Sublime’ which he introduced in his path-breaking work ‘On the Sublime’, written in epistolary The author has used a number of grand concepts— they are form and addressing Posthunius Terentianus, has constantly simple, yet aesthetically appealing to the been used to evaluate literature over the years. This paper studies readers—throughout the novel to make it sublime. For Amish Tripathi’s ‘The Immortals of Meluha’, the first of the instance, Meluhans are obsessive with the rules of war; they three novels of his Shiva Trilogy, using the five parameters that never kill the people who are begging for mercy, for them, it Longinus set forth to appraise if a work of literature has is unethical to attack an unarmed man, a swordsman from achieved sublimity or not. Written in simple, yet effective Meluhan camp does not attack a person below his waist. The language, the fantasy retelling of the story of Indian nobleness of Meluha is clearly shown by the words uttered by mythological God Lord Shiva, The Immortals of Meluha has Nandi “We deal honourably even with those are uplifting thoughts and the capacity to kindle readers’ emotions dishonourable, like the Sun we never take from anyone but which Longinus propagated as two of the major qualities of always give to others” (40).
    [Show full text]
  • Ethical Wisdom and Philosophical Judgment in Amish Tripathi's the Oath of Vayuputras
    Linguistics and Literature Studies 1(1): 20-31, 2013 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/lls.2013.010104 Ethical Wisdom and Philosophical Judgment in Amish Tripathi's The Oath of Vayuputras Lata Mishra Department of English Government KRG Autonomous PG Girls' College Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh *Corresponding Author: [email protected] Copyright © 2013 Horizon Research Publishing All rights reserved. Abstract This paper considers 'culture' as a framework in of good and evil, as perceived in Indian society. The which people live their lives and communicate shared concluding novel, The Oath of Vayuputras, argues and to a meanings with each other. Culture has been a dynamic great extent convinces that the culture of the nation, that system through which a society constructs, represents, enacts ignores the Laws of Nature, violates it, while the one that and understands itself. The research documents the way follows Laws of Nature leads its nation towards human consciousness cognizes and registers the world enlightenment. For fulfilling, harmonious and progressive around her/him. 'The Shiva Trilogy" authored by Amish life one is required to live in accordance with Laws of Nature Tripathi combines the narrative excess with philosophical or Dharma. The trilogy combines the narrative excess with debate. The fiction depicts that the culture evolves as men philosophical debate. sacrifice their duty (swadharma) for the greater good, Amish recreates the myth of Shiva, Ganesh, Sati and Kali Universal Dharma. The Oath of Vayuputras, enlivens through his study of all spheres of Indian life and literature. consciousness and promotes the experience of a new sense of He makes Shiva myth appealing and intelligible to the Self.
    [Show full text]
  • Representation and Anthropomorphism of Mythical Characters in Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy
    International Journal Online of Humanities (IJOHMN) ISSN: 2395-5155 Volume 6, Issue 1, February 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24113/ijohmn.v6i1.162 Humanly Gods or Godly Humans: Representation and Anthropomorphism of Mythical Characters in Amish Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy Aritra Basu M.Phil. Research Scholar University of Delhi Delhi, India [email protected] Abstract This paper attempts to analyse the representation of mythical characters in the three novels by Amish Tripathi, namely The immortals of Meluha, The secret of the Nagas and The oath of the Vayuputras. The protagonist is a human being, Shiva, whose bildungsroman through the trilogy transforms him into a God, but without actually changing any of his physical attributes. Thus, at the level of anthropomorphism, this method of representation sheds light on the humane aspect of the divinity. From a perspective of feminist understanding of disability, the character of Kali would be studied, as an initial outcast to an important character in the last two books. Thus, this paper would conclude that Tripathi attempts at a vision of inclusivity, by his clever techniques of the representation of the disabled and the divine alike. Keywords: Anthropomorphism, Disability, Myth, History, Marginalisation. www.ijohmn.com 96 International Journal Online of Humanities (IJOHMN) ISSN: 2395-5155 Volume 6, Issue 1, February 2020 The larger-than-life representation of characters with a divine prospect has been the signature move of Indian epics, legends, Vedas and Upanishads. While some of them were born out of a union between a God and a human, others were avatars or versions of Gods themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • 6.03(SJIF) Research Journal of English (RJOE)Vol-5, Issue-4, 2020
    Oray’s Publications Impact Factor: 6.03(SJIF) Research Journal Of English (RJOE)Vol-5, Issue-4, 2020 www.rjoe.org.in An International Peer-Reviewed English Journal ISSN: 2456-2696 Indexed in: International Citation Indexing (ICI), International Scientific Indexing (ISI), Directory of Research Journal Indexing (DRJI) Google Scholar &Cosmos. ______________________________________________________________________________ MYTHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE WOMEN IN THE NOVELS OF AMISH TRIPATHI ___________________________________________________________________________ Nirmla Rani Research Scholar Baba Mastnath University Rohtak, Haryana Research Guide: Dr. J. k. Sharma ___________________________________________________________________________ Abstract This paper explores the feminine virtuosity in the novels of Amish Tripathi.. Many women were given equal status to men even in the ancient civilization. There are so many examples of women, where women fought every challenges of their life and stood example as to the new generation. In the novels of Amish Tripathi women have been presented as doctors, worriers and artists etc. There are so many characters like Sati, Aayurwati and Sita who played different roles in the society. Some of them became the reason to reform the society. Because of Sati only, Shiva, the leader of Meluhans, want to reform the Vikrama system of society. There were women, who brought the change in society. Author Amish Tripathi has presented the women characters very artistically in his novels. Sati and Sita, both do their best in the society. Their presence in the story brings a new life to every character. Sati, is a skilled warrior and at every place, she leaves a mark of her presence. This research paper provides some significance and insight on virtues and ethical development from the ancient Indian philosophical perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. the Analysis & Use of Financial Statements White GI ; Fried D
    1. The Analysis & Use of Financial Statements White G.I ; Fried D ; Sondhi A.C 2. 10 Natural Forces for Business Success:Harnessing the Energy for Positive Impact Garber P.R 3. The 100 Minutes Marketing Managers Nag A 4. 101 Best Resumes To Sell Yourself Block J A 5. 101 Smart Questions to ASK ON YOUR INTERVIEW Fry R 6. 101 Survival Tips for Your Business Griffiths A 7. 101 Ways to Captivate A Business Audience Gaulke S 8. The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding Ries L ; Ries A L 9. 1800 Runs Brand Sale Khel Mein Kapoor J 10. 2 States:The Story of my Marriage Bhagat C 11. 2001 Quiz Book Sabharwal G ; Dube H 12. 2002 Ways to Find,Attract and Keep a Mate Haynes C ; Edwards D 13. The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader Maxwell J 14. 21 Steps to PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT 15. 21st Century Management Haynes W ; Mukherjee S ; Specimen 16. The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Ries A L ; Trout J 17. 25 Stupid Mistakes you don't want to make mistake in the stock market Rye D.E 18. 27 BRAND PRACTICES Kapoor J 19. The 3 Mistakes of My Life Bhagat C 20. 360 Degree Feedback and Assessment & Development Centres ( Vol.3) Rao, T.V. ; Chawla N 21. 360 Degree Feedback:A Management Tool Ward 22. 3D Graphics & Animation Giambruno M 23. 3D STUDIO MAX 3; Professional animation Jones A ; Bonney S 24. 3ds Max 6 Bible Murdock K L 25. 3Merchandising : Concepts and Cases Sreedhar G V S 26.
    [Show full text]
  • A Study on the Scientific Approach Towards Vedic Shaivism in Amish Tripathi's the Shiva Trilogy
    Journal of Xi'an University of Architecture & Technology ISSN No : 1006-7930 A Study on the Scientific Approach towards Vedic Shaivism in Amish Tripathi’s The Shiva Trilogy Sukanya Chakravarty M.Phil Research Scholar Department of English Rajiv Gandhi University Arunachal Pradesh Abstract: Myth in Indian culture has always been an aura of curiosity. Indian mythology dates back to the times of Lord Rama, Lord Shiva and our firm beliefs in the divine. It also shares with us the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata. The reality of Ramayana and Mahabharata as true historical events or just an epic story is still arguable. The archaeological excavations give its presence in the structures of the Indus Valley Civilization and the Harappa Cities. Amish Tripathi, the budding Indian writer focuses on such issues of historical relevance in myths. In his works we find the science behind the Vedic customs. The paper attempts to sketch the scientific superiority of the Meluhans people in the novel The Shiva Trilogy. It depicts their firm beliefs and application of medicines and science for practicing a better and healthy life. Somras an eternal drink of bliss is an effort made by the Meluhan scientists to uplift the mankind, whereas the irony is that in the process of making the somras they are indirectly destroying the Mother Nature which in a way means demolishing the mankind. Keywords: Vedic, Myth, Somras, Lord Shiva, Meluha The word ‘myth’ is derived from the Greek word ‘mythos’, which suggests story or word. Myths are moral tales usually set in distant past which are believed as true and which comprises of unearthly, supernatural or legendary characters.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical Assessment of Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy As a Seminal Piece of Popular Fiction
    DAYDREAMING AND POPULAR FICTION: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF AMISH TRIPATHI’S SHIVA TRILOGY AS A SEMINAL PIECE OF POPULAR FICTION NEHA KUMARI DR. RAJESH KUMAR Research Scholar, Research Adviser Department of English University Professor V.B.U., Hazaribag, Department of English Jharkhand, INDIA. V.B.U., Hazaribag, Jharkhand, INDIA “Phntasy…can become a source of pleasure for the hearers and spectators at the performance of writer’s work.1” expounds Sigmund Freud, in an informal talk given in 1907 which was subsequently published in 1908 under the title Creative Writers and Day- Dreaming. In his discourse, he presented his idea on the relationship between unconscious fantasy and creative art. Notably, he presented this relationship centreing the “authors of novels, Romances and short-stories2” and not “the authors of epics and tragedies3” whom he refers to as “most highly esteemed by the critic4”. Thus, he talks about popular literature, literary works that have yet to pass through the test of time to certify its creative sustainability. Fantasy is the nucleus of Popular Literature which according to Freud “[he] (an adult) is expected not to go on playing or Phantasying any longer, but to act in a real world”. It may be the reason why Popular fiction or Genre fiction is usually looked down upon by academics (an adult) through the concept of the semi-educated mass reader vs. the highly educated class reader. Popular fiction must connect and satiate the literary appetite of the so called mass reader of popular fiction as opposed to class reader of literary fiction or artistic fiction.
    [Show full text]
  • 10. Humanities-The Immortals of Meluha and the Science-Ambri Shukla
    IMPACT: International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Literature (IMPACT: IJRHAL) ISSN(E): 2321-8878; ISSN(P): 2347-4564 Vol. 2, Issue 5, May 2014, 89-94 © Impact Journals THE IMMORTALS OF MELUHA AND THE SCIENCE IN THEIR BELIEF AMBRI SHUKLA 1, SUMAN SWATI 2 & SHUCHI SRIVASTAVA 3 1,2 Research Scholar, Humanities and Social Sciences, NIT, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India 3Associate Professor, H.O.D, Humanities and Social Sciences, NIT, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India ABSTRACT One of the greatest tragedies of our time is this impression that has been created that science and religion have to be at war. The two generally deal with different realms, natural v/s spiritual. Disagreements do arise about where the boundaries between these realms lie when dealing with questions at their interface. We could define that when it come to religion it is faith and when it come to science it is empirical evidence. This paper moves with this definition and see ‘The immortals of Meluha’ in this light. The immortals of Meluha, first part of Shiva trilogy, is a fiction by Amish Tripathi. The book deals with the rich mythological heritage of ancient India. Shiva is the protagonist, in today’s world we know him as Lord Shiva. The book is a tribute to Lord Shiva and the lesson that his life is for human beings. A lesson lost in the depths of time and ignorance by humans. This paper tries to explore the beliefs of the immortals of Meluha and the science in their belief. KEYWORDS: Science, Religion, Belief, Interface INTRODUCTION “The most beautiful and deepest experience a man can have is the sense of the mysterious.
    [Show full text]
  • Multidisciplinary Research
    ISSN (Online) : 2455 - 3662 SJIF Impact Factor :3.967 EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Monthly Peer Reviewed & Indexed International Online Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 2 February 2017 Published By : EPRA Journals CC License SJIF Impact Factor: 3.967 Volume: 3 | Issue: 2 | February 2017 EPRA International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (IJMR) ISSN (Online): 2455-3662 USE OF MYTHICALSJIF Impact CHARACTE Factor : 3.395 RS IN SHIVA SJIF Impact Factor : 3.395 TRILOGY SJIF Impact Factor : 3.395 Priya E1 1Assistant professor of English (Aided), NGM College, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India The Indian literature is dominated today by novels dealing with the mythical past. These novels often rework the Indian myths creatively to address contemporary human issues. Indian mythology is a rich treasure trove of tales, rich in plurality and characters . The usual concept of seeing things in just two shades of black and white dissolves as we are introduced into epics like The Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Every character is depicted as humane, prone to errors. Indian mythology is well depicted by the Indian writers beginning from Raja Rao and Girish karnad till the contemporary writers such as Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi of today. Amish Tripathi' s Shiva Trilogy is based on the reconstruction of several Indian mythical characters and stories drawn from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and Shivapuranam. For the philosophical arguments he has relied on via classical Sanskrit texts and Vedas and Upanishads. Amish, he his own terms of narrative style has succeed in brining life to the mythical character that we have been heard of since our childhood.
    [Show full text]
  • Geopolitical Issues in the Immortals of Meluha
    The Journey of Indian Languages: Perspective on Culture and Society ISSN: GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES IN THE IMMORTALS OF MELUHA Saurabh R. Vaishnav Adhyapak Sahayak, St. Xavier‟s College (Autonomous), Ahmedabad. E-Mail id: [email protected] Mobile Number: 9429027670 Dr. Jagdish S. Joshi Professor/Director, Academic Staff College, Ahmedabad. E-Mail id: [email protected] Mobile Number: 9426587963 Introduction: Today in an age where 9 countries are capable of bringing devastation to the world by their nuclear force, it seems that we are just sitting ducks on the verge of a catastrophic war. A pile of 16,300 nuclear weapons awaits the orders of a fanatic to send up mushroom clouds high up in air. Interestingly, geopolitics plays a huge role regarding the way political scenarios are played amongst nations. The word geopolitics was originally coined by the Swedish political scientist Rudolf Kjellén. Geopolitics as the name suggests is politics based on geography. It analyses how geography influences power struggle in international relations of countries. Geography has, since years, been a very important issue for mankind. Several countries are trying to take maximum advantage they can regarding the various parameters of geography. Both World Wars laid us an example of how emphasis is now more towards geography. Be it climate, topography, flora, fauna, arid and fertile lands, valleys, mountains, deserts or sea. We all know about how Operation Barbarossa during the Second World War (Nazi Germany‟s Volume: 1| January – 2019 www.baou.edu.in Page 70 The Journey of Indian Languages: Perspective on Culture and Society ISSN: operation to take over Soviet Union) failed.
    [Show full text]
  • An Archetypal Study of Amish Tripathi's Novels the Immortals of Meluha, the Secret of the Nagas and Chinau Achebe's Things Fall Apart
    AN ARCHETYPAL STUDY OF AMISH TRIPATHI'S NOVELS THE IMMORTALS OF MELUHA, THE SECRET OF THE NAGAS AND CHINAU ACHEBE'S THINGS FALL APART S. SARAVANAN, M. NANDHINI, Associate Professor & Head, M.Phil. Research Scholar, Department of English, Government Arts College (Auto), Government Arts College (Auto), Kumbakonam. (TN) INDIA Kumbakonam. (TN) INDIA This paper examines the first two part of the Shiva's trilogy: The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of the Nagas by Amish Tripathi in relation with the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinau Achebe. By the application of archetypal criticism, it highlights the common beliefs and perceptions of the characters in these novels that belong to two different civilizations. Moreover, based on the principles of Reader-response criticism the researcher generated Things Fall Apart as an intertext. Key Words: trilogy, archetype, perception, reader-response INTRODUCTION Archetypal Criticism- An Introduction The human mind has common ways of responding to experience which are variously known as ‘innate structures’ in Cartesian philosophy, ‘universals’ in transformational linguistics and ‘archetypes’ in Jungian psychology. According to the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud, our mind can be divided into two: the conscious and the unconscious. Further, the unconscious is divided in to collective and individual. People in different parts of the world have some common beliefs, thoughts, S. SARAVANAN M. NANDHINI 1P a g e perceptions, taboos etc, which are universal in nature and devoid of time and space. This is what embedded in the collective unconscious mind. The Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung (1875-1961), used the term ‘archetype’ to refer to this ‘collective unconscious’.
    [Show full text]