Amish Tripathi
Amish Tripathi
Amish Tripathi, is an Indian author, known for his novels The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras. The three books collectively comprise the Shiva Trilogy. His debut work The Immortals of Meluha was a bestseller, that broke into the top seller chart within a week of its launch owing to his creative marketing strategies. The Shiva Trilogy has become the fastest selling book series in the history of Indian publishing, with 2.5...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth18 October 1974
CityMumbai, India
CountryIndia
I don't think I'm any competition to the already-existing canon of writers in Kannada. How can I ever even think of comparing myself?
I am a voracious reader, so it's difficult for me to give a list of my favourite authors of all time.
A writer can't afford to just focus on writing and leave marketing aside in today's competitive market.
Fortunately, I grew up in a traditional family where questioning was encouraged, particularly by my pandit grandfather. We are all voracious readers, seeking knowledge. I learn a lot from discussions with my wife, siblings and parents.
My father's family hails from Banaras. My grandfather taught mathematics at Banaras Hindu University. Banaras is also dedicated to Lord Shiva, home to one of the great jyotirlings, the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
In the early '90s, I was disillusioned after the blasts and riots in Mumbai. I was in college and started thinking that religion was the root cause of all these evils. While my father told me not to blame religion because of a few bad people, I wasn't convinced. The faith was restored after I started writing my first book.
I believe if you want to convey a complex philosophy, it's advisable to keep it simple: day-to-day lingo.
Writing about our gods in English is unnatural, but I believe language is just a carrier - a means to an end.
The good news is that a vast majority of Indians from different religions see no contradiction between religiosity and liberalism, keep India stable. We religious liberals don't talk loudly enough.
Most educated Indians are bilingual. Amongst the urban elite though, there is a disdain for regional languages. That's unfortunate.
As a writer, it's important to stay true to your story without giving a hoot about publishers, critics and readers. You should do your karma as an author the way you want to, and rest is up to God.
Myths are part of our DNA. We're a civilisation with a continuous culture. The effort to modernize it keeps it alive. Readers connect with it.
I see a sense of unity in the universe. Spirituality is not limited to only one religion. One can experience it across different religions. I am fascinated by philosophy of Advaita and philosophy of unity. We have to get over the illusion that God is different from us.
He has turned my life around by 180 degrees, I still don't understand why Shiva has blessed me so much. I believe he'll bless the worst of us first because we need it the most.