Amish Tripathi took up writing seven years ago. The Mumbai-born author, best known for the Shiva Trilogy novels and the Ram Chandra Series , grew up in Rourkela, Odisha.
When asked about how he got into writing, Amish laughs and reveals that the book Immortals of Meluha was his first attempt at writing fiction. He claims he was never creative during his college years. “I graduated from college in 1995 and completed my MBA in 1997. My college life was really different. At that time, I never thought of becoming a writer. I was academically oriented and actively involved in boxing, gymnastics, and other sports. I was enthusiastic about taking part in extra-curricular activities as well, such as organising cultural festivals and similar events. But I was always part of the organising team and never into a creative field,” confesses Amish, an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.
Lessons from school
Amish attended Utkal Primary School in Kansbahal, Orissa. “I was a back bencher in school but not weak in studies. I was not the best-behaved child, but, fortunately, I never caused any problems for my parents or let my grades suffer,” he says. Amish, who feels that his success is primarily a blessing of Lord Shiva, says he has always been a rebellious kid. “I was a rebellious kid during my school days. I used to bombard my teachers with questions if I was not clear about something,” he recalls.
An incident from Class II seems to have left an impact on Amish. It made him realise that the Indian education system is heavily influenced by European culture. He feels that due to our dependency on the European culture, we have distanced our children from the roots of our own country.
“We have not managed to adequately connect our education system with India. We are obsessed with the European culture, which has created a gap between what we study and what we have to implement,” he says.
Explicating this thought, Amish says, “If we take my seasons query from Class II as an example, European countries have four seasons whereas we have five. This kind of mismatch in what we study and what we see adversely affects our performance when we start working.”
Amish feels that reconnecting with our roots and leaving the obsession of following the European system is essential to optimally utilising our resources and talents.
“Today’s youngsters live in a fantastic India. They have so many options and opportunities to choose from and should make optimum use of them. Our country’s youth needs to reconnect with our roots. My suggestion to them is always dream big and work hard.”
