Amish Tripathi - The Secret of the Nagas

Praise for The Secret of the Nagas

a gripping tale that combines lots of action with deep yet accessible philosophy. Amish does not disappoint.... The Secret of the Nagas is furiously packed with action and intrigue and leaves the reader guessing

Outlook

the book has it all - philosophies, spiritual messages, secrets, battles and mysteries.

Indian Express

[Amishs] stories of Lord Shiva retold for our times The Immortals of Mehlua and The Secret of the Nagas have been runaway successes

The Times of India

Its clear that [ The Secret of the Nagas ] has struck a chord with Indian readers.

The Hindu

The idea of The Shiva Trilogy excited me because this sort of experimentation with Indian mythology is long overdue in popular literature, especially by an Indian author ... As far as plotting and pacing are concerned, Amish is very skilful.

Asian Age

well on his way to a successful second innings

Harpers Bazaar

Amish Tripathi retained his Midas touch with The Secret of the Nagas.

Deccan Herald

[Amish] does a matchless job of bringing Shivas legacy into a character that inhabited the earth

The Sentinel, Guwahati

The Secret of the Nagas isimpressive in its conception... Tripathi is an excellent story-teller.

DNA

The Secret of the Nagas was included in Best Five Books of 2011.

Femina

Its a labour of love... Amish also humanizes his characters, something which most popular Indian writers fail miserably at.

The Mint

Brilliant retelling of the Shivpuran in the most modern and intriguing form; an exciting, stylish, creative, refreshing and soul-satisfying read!

Ranjani Vijayaraghavan
Reader Review Contest Winner

Amish is a fresh new voice in Indian writing steeped in myth and history, with a fine eye for detail and a compelling narrative style.

Shashi Tharoor
Member of Parliament and celebrated author

Furious action jumps off every page.

Anil Dharker
Renowned Journalist and Author

The Shiva Trilogy is a racy mytho-thriller with a masala twist, like Amar Chitra Katha on steroids. This (The Secret of the Nagas) is the sequel Ive been waiting for.

Rashmi Bansal
Bestselling author of Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

westland ltd
Venkat Towers, 165, P.H. Road, Maduravoyal, Chennai 600 095
No. 38/10 (New No. 5), Raghava Nagar, New Timber Yard Layout, Bangalore 560 026
Survey No. A - 9, II Floor, Moula AH Industrial Area, Moula Ali, Hyderabad 500 040
23/181, Anand Nagar, Nehru Road, Santacruz East, Mumbai 400 055
4322/3, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002

Published by westland ltd 2011

Copyright Amish Tripathi 2011

All rights reserved

Amish Tripathi asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person living or dead, events and locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-93-80658-79-7

Cover Design by Rashmi Pusalkar.
Photo of Lord Shiva by Chandan Kowli.

Inside book formatting and typesetting by Ram Das Lal

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by any way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the authors prior written consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews with appropriate citations.

To Preeti & Neel..

Unlucky are those who search the seven
seas for paradise

Fortunate are those who experience the only heaven
that truly exists, the heaven that lives in the company
of our loved ones

I am truly fortunate

Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Shiva is truth. Shiva is beauty
Shiva is the masculine. Shiva is the feminine
Shiva is a Suryavanshi. Shiva is a Chandravanshi

Contents

The first book of the Shiva Trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha, was surprisingly well received. To be honest, I felt the pressure of trying to match up to the first book with The Secret of the Nagas. I dont know if I have succeeded. But I have had a great time bringing the second chapter in Shivas grand adventure to you. I would like to take a minute to acknowledge those who made this journey possible for me.

Lord Shiva, my God, my Leader, my Saviour. I have been trying to decipher why He blessed an undeserving person like me with this beautiful story. I dont have an answer as yet.

My father-in-law & a devoted Shiva Bhakt, the late Dr Manoj Vyas, who passed away just a few months before the release of this book. A man I intensely admired, he continues to live in my heart.

Preeti, my wife. The bedrock of my life. My closest advisor. Not just the wind beneath my wings, but the wings themselves.

My family: Usha, Vinay, Bhavna, Himanshu, Meeta, Anish, Donetta, Ashish, Shernaz, Smita, Anuj, Ruta. For their untiring support and love. Bhavna needs an additional mention for helping me with the copy editing. As does Donetta for building and maintaining my first website.

Sharvani Pandit, my editor. Stubborn and fiercely committed to the Shiva Trilogy. Its an honour to work with her.

Rashmi Pusalkar, the designer of this books cover. A fine artist, a magician. She is headstrong and always delivers.

Gautam Padmanabhan, Paul Vinay Kumar, Renuka Chatterjee, Satish Sundaram, Anushree Banerjee, Vipin Vijay Manisha Sobhrajani and the fantastic team at Westland, my publishers. For their hard work, drive and supreme belief in the Shiva Trilogy.

Anuj Bahri, my agent. He has been a friend and has supported me when I needed it the most. And if I connect the dots of my serendipitous journey into writing, I must also thank Sandipan Deb, who introduced me to Anuj.

Chandan Kowli, the photographer for the cover. Talented & brilliant, he shot the required photograph perfectly. Chintan Sareen, for creating the snake in CG and Julien Dubois for assisting him. Prakesh Gor, for the make-up. Sagar Pusalkar, for the system work. They have truly created magic.