The Oath of Vayuputras - Amish Tripathi
Having read the first two parts
of the Shiva trilogy, I eagerly awaited the release of the third and the
concluding part, for over a year. After a couple of tentative release dates,
when the actual date of release was finally confirmed, I pre-ordered my copy
and counted the days. However, owing to the amount of publicity surrounding the
release, I had an apprehension that perhaps it may not live up to the hype. And
sad to say, my fears turned out to be somewhat true - overall, it was a little disappointing
compared to the first two parts. One of the reasons could be having too many
expectations with it, which in general is a difficult thing to live up to. Or
perhaps, due to the increasing familiarity with the theme and the characters –
the “newness” wearing off [which is why, I hold in high respect an author like
Rowling, who managed to keep us intrigued with the world of Harry Potter
through seven books in the series].
One of my grouses is that the
book is too long – almost twice as long as the other two. Now, you don’t mind
that length, if it holds up the interest. But in this case a major part of the
middle of the book was essentially devoted to chase-and-war, which though a
part of the story, did not give much to discover or think about. This is
perhaps one of the reasons it feels dull in comparison – the first two parts introduced
many new concepts/ideas; this was primarily a continuation of those. I really
feel that had this part of the book had been trimmed, and offered something
more for readers to discover, it would have make it much more interesting. Actually
the pace of the story is quite good (and I am all for thrillers with fast-paced
action sequences), but I think in this story I was looking for more meaning and
depth, because of which I found the war sequences something of a deterrent.
In his endeavor to depict Shiva
as a mortal man, and avoid attributing any special powers to him, Amish seems
to have over-rationalized (if there is such a thing) things. He provides a
scientific explanation to many aspects, and though many of them are interesting
or sound logical, some of the explanations appear rather far-fetched, while some
are quite disappointing. Even though Amish attempts to underline and understand
the greatness of Shiva, because of which he came to be revered, he almost contradictorily,
sometimes painfully, emphasizes Shiva as an average man with some special
skills. I think it would not have been amiss for his Shiva to have some
extra-ordinary powers (which is not the same as super-natural powers), and
would have made a few things more plausible. An example – his explanation of
the cause of blue throat of Shiva could have made anyone (fulfilling some
requirements, of course) a Neelkanth. I really would have preferred to learn
that Shiva was special :-)
The Synopsys of the book [from
Amisha’s site, and the blurb on the back cover] says: “Evil has risen. Only a God can stop it. Shiva is gathering his forces.
He reaches the Naga capital, Panchavati and Evil is finally revealed. The
Neelkanth prepares for a holy war against his true enemy, a man whose name
instills dread in the fiercest of warriors.” Well, for me, the book did not
convey or recreate that feeling of dread. And I also think that in the end justice was
not done to him.
Then, the title being “The Oath
of Vayuputras”, I expected much more involvement of the Vayuputras. Even though
they play a critical role in the story in this book, it is but a small role. Featured
as they are in the title, they deserved to have far more importance. In fact,
Vasudev’s seem to have played a far significant role, in earlier books, as well
as this one.
But above all, I felt that the
climax was a bit of let-down. [Not elaborating to avoid giving it away.] The
way Shiva’s moral character is built up, it felt quite uncharacteristic. Though
one can find a good justification for this in the mythology – Shiva is the
destroyer – when he opens his third eye, there is catastrophe all over. Why does
Shiva chose what he does – this is perhaps one of the few unanswered questions
Amish left for the reader
For, in this book he ties up many
ends, and brings the story of Shiva to a conclusion. Many of the questions are
answered, including the most important one – what is Evil. Not just the
identity of the evil in this story (which is revealed in the first few pages,
and does take one by surprise), but also the depiction how good and evil are
the two sides of the same coin, and thus a good can turn into an evil. I liked
the explanation and conversation in this part of the book. This all-important
discovery is not dramatized, but kept simple and matter-of-fact.
As the story progresses towards
its conclusion, different pieces of the puzzle fit together and fall into
place. This is done quite seamlessly, as is tying up of legends from mythology
with the events that take place in the book. There is sadness and violence, but
then, how can you fight a war, and a holy one at that, without any casualties
This book is better edited
than the previous ones, making it a much smoother read. No more jarring
expressions, no (obvious and painful) attempts at a literary flare. Except for some
occasional “Hells” and “Damns”, not many expressions stand out sorely. And I
was quite amused to find “does God play dice”, too amused to accuse him of plagiarizing
the phrase.
I do not mean to say that the
negatives outweigh the positives. Just that this did not match the expectations
set by the previous two books, and it could have been crisper and better. If
you have read the first two, (in words of a friend) – “You can’t not read it. You need to have a closure in life :)”. And if you haven’t
read them, I would say that the whole series is worth reading, it’s one of the
best mythological fiction works I have come across.
