Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi

Author:Amish Tripathi [Tripathi, Amish]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Westland Publishing
Published: 2012-05-21T18:30:00+00:00

The caravan left the river city of Kotdwaar on a royal barge led and followed by two large boats of equal size and grandeur as the royal vessel. Typical of the Meluhan security system, the additional boats were to confuse any attacker about which boat the royal family may be on. The entire royal party was in the second boat. Each of the three large boats was manned by a brigade of soldiers. Additionally, there were five small and quick cutter boats on both sides of the royal convoy, keeping pace and protecting the sides in case of an ambush.

‘When the monsoon is not active, my Lord,’ said Ayurvati, ‘the rivers are the best way to travel. Though we have good roads connecting all major cities, it cannot match the rivers in terms of speed and safety.’

Shiva smiled at Ayurvati politely. He was not in the frame of mind for much conversation. Sati had not spoken to Shiva since that fateful day at Kotdwaar when he had refused to undergo a shudhikaran.

The royal barge stopped at many cities along the river. The routine seemed much the same. Extreme exuberance would manifest itself in each city on the arrival of the Neelkanth.

It was a kind of reaction unnatural in Meluha. But then, a Neelkanth didn’t grace the land every day.

‘Why?’ asked Shiva of Brahaspati, after many days of keeping quiet about the disquiet in his troubled heart.

‘Why what?’

‘You know what I am talking about, Brahaspati,’ said Shiva, narrowing his eyes in irritation.

‘She genuinely believes that she deserves to be a vikarma,’ answered Brahaspati with a sad smile.

‘Why?’

‘Perhaps because of the manner in which she became a vikarma.’

‘How did it happen?’

‘It happened during her earlier marriage.’

‘What! Sati was married?!’

’Yes. That was around ninety years back. It was a political marriage with one of the noble families of the empire. Her husband’s name was Chandandhwaj. She got pregnant and went to the Maika to deliver the child. It was the monsoon season. Unfortunately, the child was stillborn.’

‘Oh my god!’ said Shiva, empathising with the pain Sati must have felt.

‘But it was worse. On the same day, her husband, who had gone to the Narmada to pray for the safe birth of their child, accidentally drowned. On that cursed day, her life was destroyed.’

Shiva stared at Brahaspati, too stunned to react. ‘She became a widow and was declared a vikarma the same day.’

‘But how can the husband’s death be considered her fault?’ argued Shiva. ‘That is completely ridiculous.’

‘She wasn’t declared a vikarma because of her husband’s death. It was because she gave birth to a stillborn child.’

‘But that could be due to any reason. Maybe there was a mistake that the local doctors committed.’

‘That doesn’t happen in Meluha, Shiva,’ said Brahaspati calmly. ‘Having a stillborn child is probably one of the worst ways for a woman to become a vikarma. Only giving birth to a Naga child would be considered worse. Thank god that didn’t happen. Because then she would have been completely ostracised from society.

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