The Oath of Vayuputras

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.