The relationship between a performer and the audience is always fragile. Be it an actor, a cricketer, a dancer or an author. With repeated superlative performance they raise the bar not only for them but also of the expectations of their fans. It is the curse of being successful and passionate in what you do. With AMISH it is no different. The author who by any standard has in past given excellent stories representing one of the finest contemporary narrative style liked by the readers, no doubt has a strong grasp of subject and tight grip of the audience. It felt a bit shaken this time round.
Unfortunately, not only me but all the readers and the critics will end up comparing his work with the solid successful and well liked series ‘The immortals of Meluha’, ‘The secret of Nagas’ and ‘The oath of Vayuputras’. ‘Scion of Ikshvaku’ (SOK) is far simpler narration and too slow. It is not really a page-turner.
Amish have said that it is start of a new series that may have 5-6 books in it. And somewhere I dread of he is not over stretching the story. There are huge passages in SOK do not hold you attention and some sure eyebrow raisers which makes you applaud the author for interpretation and cunning plot extension. But the latter are few and rare. Amish seems to be over busy in trying any lose ends and hence somewhere keeps explaining every action and step.
Oh how he spins the story in a magical way. Ram the eldest prince is born when his father King Dashrath is defeated for the first time by Ravana. That Ram is seen as inauspicious and lives a childhood where he is more hated and disliked than cared for. Sita is the Prime Minister of Mithila. Jatayu is a beak faced Naga. Manthara is a rich and powerful trader.
Though for reason best known to all of us, Ramayana in SOK remains a story true to its basics. Maybe it is too powerful to be tweaked drastically. Amish manage to give all the characters a far more humanness. His characters like always are portrayed in Grey. Even Ram and lakshman are not allowed to remain White.
Amish tease you by presenting attitudinal polarity. Like it was the age-old Chor-police brothers of Indian Cinema. Ram will live by the rule and starts by trusting everyone. Lakshman on the other side always starts with mistrust. Kaikeye remain the scheming queen and Kaushalya the one who is now living a weakened power centre so unsure of her.
I appreciate Amish’s attempt to raise and present a point-of-view on current contemporary issues. Somewhere this ideology of force fitting the current issues and inspiration from current incidence exerts its own pressure on the story line. It brings you back from the mystical mythological land back to your life and that leaves you with not a feeling that you enjoy.
Take the case of the young medic being gang raped and the main culprit being juvenile and hence cannot be punished. You cannot get more
AMISH
nearer to an Indian contemporary issue in a mythological setting. Take the case of Police Head and Prime Minister of Maithili being women.
There is a strong tonality demanding change ( Acche din aaney waaale hai ) and hence dictating that the system and laws that ones held supreme must change with time. In process introducing the polarity of freedom oriented feminine administration and a rigid- law based masculine form. You can read that as today’s India.
Still I admire Amish skills in bringing alive the physical spaces he is operating in the story. To me that is acid test of an excellent writer. And here when he describes Mithla and its structures, you see that happening in 3 D before your eyes. You could be there between the two walls or the houses that have no doors. You could be in that garden and visualise Ram meeting Sita.
There are numerous philosophical interjections and interpretations through out the 
narration. Few of them are real gem. Take this ‘Death is believed to be inauspicious in some foreign land to the west of us; to them it signifies the end of everything, But nothing ever really dies. No material can ever really truly escape the universe. It just changes form. In that sense, death is actually also a beginning of regeneration; the old form dies and a new form is born. If the south is a direction of death then it is also the direction of regeneration’ Do pick your favourites and play with them. Here is another one ‘The fundamental understanding between our world of forms and the EKAM’s formless world makes them believe in the lie that my god is the true god and your god is a false god. Just like a wise human will have no preference for his kidneys over his liver, the one God will not Pick one group over other. It is stupid even to think otherwise’
Now the main questions that I ask myself. Will I pick the next one from Amish? BET I WILL. Will I ensure I get the copy early? YES I WILL Do I this book? YES.
If you have read the first three that formed the Shiva Trilogy, this is a style that you love and hence SOK will not work for you. If you have not read any of his work, reading this without an earlier reference will be a blessing.
RAM CHANDRA SERIES-1. SCION OF IKSHVAKU. AMISH. PAGES 351 INR 350. WESTLAND LTD
MORE BOOK REVIEWS HERE : YAGNASENI n DREAM WITH YOUR EYES OPEN n CONVICTION OF ABSOLUTENESS n HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN n SEVEN CONVERSATIONS n HALF GIRLFRIEND n RAINBOW n ADULTERY AND MORE
