Echoes of the Past, Demands of the Present: A Comparative Reading of The Immortals of Meluha and Dark Horse

Abstract

India is a country of various diversities.  There are differences in India that make India a world in itself. One part of the country is enormously different from the natives of the other part. Since ancient times, there have been migrations and displacements due to various reasons and causes. Besides other reasons and causes, the social and economic needs of the natives were one of the most influential factors for the displacement and migration. But the impact of the native land, language, food, and cultural practices remains alive in some part of their hearts and often is reflected in their behaviour and practices. The present paper aims to read two novels titled The Immortals of Meluha, written by Amish Tripathi, and Dark Horse, written by Nilotpal Mrinal, from the point of view of the need and emotion of migration and displacement. The settings of both novels are at a vast time gap. Tripathi’s The Interpreters of Meluha is a mythical rewriting set in 1900 BC ancient India and deals with the migration of the protagonist Shiva and his Guna tribe from Mansarovar Lake in Tibet to Meluha. On the other hand, Dark Horse is set in 21st-century Delhi and deals with the migration of students from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to Mukherjee Nagar, New Delhi, to prepare for the civil exams. Both novels have displacement and nostalgia at different times in India. The main focus of the paper is comparing this theme in the two novels and comparing the Indian sentiment towards the motherland at two different time spaces.