Amish Tripathi is a little out of breath as he walks into the lobby of Vivanta by Taj-Connemara. “I’ve just been practising on the drums,” he says, with his characteristic wide smile. As we walk to the coffee shop, he talks about how he used to be the lead singer in his band Baro-C when he was at IIM-Kolkata. “But I never used to drum and sing at the same time. That’s something only Phil Collins can do,” he laughs, as he settles into a chair and orders green tea.
In Chennai for the launch of his latest book, Scion Of Ikshvaku , Amish says, “Readers here have responded really well to the Shiva trilogy, so I’m hoping they love this book as well.” But the launch doesn’t seem like it’s going to end with just a talk, discussion and book signing. “We’ve been doing this drum performance at all the city launches. Its good fun since a large part of my readers are young and music is a celebration of life. Who said book launches have to be boring, both for those attending and for me?” he asks.
I wonder if he gets tired of answering the same questions over and over again during the intense publicity phase. “You’re the first person to ask me that! The way I see it, marketing is part of the job, and although the author’s main job is to write with purity of heart, this is not something that can be ignored. It’s fallacy to think that a good book sells itself. I do enjoy writing a lot more, but this gives me an opportunity to talk to my readers and believe me, I learn a lot from them.”
On the topic of Hindu mythology and its growing popularity among readers, Amish says, “This type of writing was always popular in regional literature. What I’ve done is a very small contribution to the genre. The time is right for more authors to write about mythology. So far, I think the majority of work has been about Hindu mythology because that’s where the knowledge is. Material is available in plenty for other works as well. But I’m not certain if readers don’t want such books, or if they do want such books and the publishers haven’t catered to that need yet.”
A voracious reader himself, Amish is currently pursuing The Simpsonsand Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh, and he loves it. He says, “I’m a lover of Math, so it’s mind-blowing for me. I am really enjoying it.”
He is also working on the second book of the Rama series, and looking forward to the script of the movie adaptation of his first book from the Shiva trilogy.
“Right now, I am being forced to be social. I do party, but only with my family and friends. I can’t do the whole party circuit thing; it’s not something I am particularly fond of, so it’ll be good to get back to writing,” he says.
