“We are not following the standards set by our ancestors. We have a lot to learn,” says Amish Tripathi, author of one of the best-selling works of fiction in India in recent times.
In Kozhikode to launch the Malayalam translation of his ‘Shiva Trilogy’ published by Poorna Publications, Amish attributes his success as a writer to Lord Siva, who “converted an atheist back to faith.”
First book
With no literary background, Amish started his first book as a thesis on the topic ‘What is evil’ during his atheistic phase. It soon turned into a tale of adventure, which under the fictional exterior is a work of philosophy. “Writing the book brought me back to faith,” he says.
Modernisation of myth
Amish feels that modernisation of mythology has always been part of Indian culture. It has happened from time-to-time to suit newer generations.
On why his characters are all human, he says he was inspired from the traditional concept of a human experiencing the God within, like Buddha did.
Amish brushed away the Aryan invasion theory on grounds of recent genetic studies that there were no Aryan gene pools in India to establish that there was no Aryan Dravidian divide in India until 2,000 years ago.
“There is not much difference between being religious and being spiritual in the Indian context. Here we have the freedom to practise or not practise a religion in whichever way that suits us. We are out of the ordinary,” he says, attributing the lack of resistance to religious freedom.
New series
About his upcoming Ram Chandra series, he says there may be five books in the series based on the story of Lord Ram.
“Perfection does not come free of cost. A good leader always pays the price when he works for the well-being of his people. Lord Ram did. What is perfect now may not be perfect a thousand years from now,” Amish says.
He attributes his marketing skills to his background in management. His first book was rejected by around 20 publishers before he self-published it. As of now, around 2.2 million copies of the ‘Shiva Trilogy’ have been sold worldwide, while 6,000 copies of the Malayalam translation of the first book ‘Immortals of Meluha’ were sold in five days, he says.
The ‘Shiva Trilogy’ in Malayalam will be released on Saturday.
