This August, I spoke with author Amish Tripathi in Mumbai about his Shiva Trilogy, devotional fiction set in Jambudweep or ancient India, that has attracted a big following with devouts and atheists alike! A Vodafone Crosswords Award shortlist this year, Amish was cool enough to share insight on his novels, publishing, and the God of many hats, Shiva:
You were an MBA graduate in a regular job, the marketing head of an insurance firm, working your way out to becoming a literary sensation overnight! Was it in the stars?
The book happened to me. I didn’t plan it. I had absolutely no creative bone in my body. I was more of a sportsman when I was young. I had written absolutely nothing prior to my first book (The Immortals of Meluha), not even a short story in school, just some bad poetry here and there. But… the trilogy started as a philosophy book. When I showed the first draft to my family they said it was boring, and asked me to convert it into fiction; to narrate an exciting story and let the philosophy come along with it. So I began writing fiction for the first time in my life. My friends and family are shocked that I made a profession out of writing. So am I!
How did you find time to write in your 9 to 5 world?
Actually, in Financial Services, it’s a 9 to 9 world! I used to write the book along my office commute. In Mumbai you have long commutes and I utilised my Mahim to Fort journey—an hour-and-a-half drive each way—sitting in the back seat of my car and typing the story on my laptop. For the second book—I had taken a holiday in Munnar, wrote 12-13 chapters in fifteen days. I am an early morning guy. I wake up by 5:30-6, do my pooja. Exercise for an hour, eat breakfast. And then write. Even during my alone time, my book plays out in my mind and I am always thinking about it. But I do need music when I’m writing. It sets the mood.
What is The Secret of the Nagas? How important is the chronology?
The Secret of the Nagas begins from the exact moment where book 1 (The Immortals of Meluha) ended. The Shiva Trilogy is one continuous story broken into three books for convenience. The three books are not independent stories by themselves. To draw a comparison with films, if you see the Godfather trilogy, you will be able to watch each independent movie, without seeing the other. But with Matrix, there is one continuous story that is broken into three analogous parts. Shiva Trilogy is like the Matrix in that sense, if you read the second book without reading the first, you could hopefully enjoy it but may not quite get the entire story.
How have you understood Shiva, in your new age trilogy?
I have understood Shiva as He came to me. He speaks about issues that I feel strongly about. Issues like women’s emancipation, honor killings (there’s an incident of that in The Secret of the Nagas). I feel strongly about the evil of casteism — that you should be judged by who you are; not by what your ancestors did or where you were born, but by your own karma. I feel strongly about all these issues and they emerge in my books. I have written this trilogy at 3 levels—one is at an adventure/thriller level, love story hai, tragedy hai, drama hai, it’s a good pacy read (or so I’ve been told!). Then there’s a deeper level where characters are making statements about issues that I feel strongly about: like how immigrants are treated etc. Then the third level is the core philosophies that I want to convey (remember, the book started as a philosophy treatise)—my philosophy of what is evil, why it exists and how it can be destroyed.
So what is your Argument against Evil?
The book’s philosophy was inspired by something I discovered many years back. In India, we all know that Gods are devas and demons are called asuras. What we don’t know is that for the ancient Zoroastrian Persians, their gods were called Ahuras, and their demons were named Daivas--the exact opposite! The god of the Indians would be a demon to the Persians. This made me wonder, what would happen if the ancient Indians and Persians met each other? They’d call each other evil, right? Would the Persians be right or would the Indians be right? Of course, the answer is neither. Then what would be Evil? An answer occurred to me as a philosophy. And when I began discussing this with my family they said, write about it. And so began this journey! Through the Shiva Trilogy I am trying to convey this philosophy. But philosophy by itself is a dry cake and not too appetising. So we need the icing of a story to make it more attractive.
How have you organized your research for the trilogy?
One way of looking at it is that I have done no specific research for the trilogy. Another way of looking at it is that I’ve been doing research for 25 years, because I have been reading history books, since as far back as I can remember. I am deeply passionate about history. I would have been a historian, if there was money in it. But sadly there isn’t and it is difficult to meet one’s financial responsibilities on the earnings of a historian.
Are you addressing a special target readership in your novels?
See, I wasn’t trying to be an author, there’s no strategy I came up with. And authors shouldn’t. They should stick with the purity of their story. An author shouldn’t care a damn about whether a story is saleable or not. The moments he does, he corrupts his process. Be absolutely true to your story. Once the story is complete only then should and author put on a marketing hat, and think about ‘how do I make this kahani sell’? Personally, I am very involved with every stage of my story, as it evolves into a book and after, with all the promotional activities.
Do share some feedback you get from readers and fans?
I get 70-100 messages a day, and I try to respond to all. It’s a pleasure to read them! I get emails from old people, who used to be scared of God, and after reading my book, they say they think of God as a friend. I get emails from children as young as 12! One email said, “I used to think Shiva was my grandmother’s god, but I now I think he’s very cool, he is the ‘dude’ of the Gods, ” which I think is a very apt way of describing Lord Shiva. I get emails from women saying that Shiva is an ideal man, and that they wish they could find their own Shiva. I get emails from Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jews, besides Hindus and that only goes to show the innate secularism of the Indian reader. We are a secular country and there is a deep respect for all religions in our tradition.
What kind of a reader are you?
Voracious. My favourite authors keep expanding as I read more. I love Ramachandra Guha’s books. But in fiction I like philosophical books like Ayn Rand, Wilbur Smith, Raymond Fiest and JRR Tolkien.
What are your thoughts on this new wave of self-publishing, and sudden spate of do-it-all writers armed with business acumen and strategy tilting the old scales of power?
I am new to publishing so I may not know all the details of this industry. But from what I know, the publishing industry looks down upon those who self-publish; they call it “vanity publishing”. I don’t agree with that at all. In my mind, a guy who is self-publishing is an entrepreneur – as they are people who put their own sweat, blood and money where their mouth is. My suggestion to authors who are rejected by publishers: If no one is backing you, you have every right (in fact a duty) to back yourself. We are a free country. We should make our voices heard. I don’t understand what the fuss is about regarding self-publishing. If a Nagesh Kukunoor can pick up a camera, make a film and release it, then why can’t an author write a book and self-publish it? Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of a democracy and every voice deserves to be heard.
So, what is going to be the challenge for Publishers going forward?
Physical distribution is going to remain solid for a while because E reading has not yet taken off in India. The e-reader, priced at Rupees 12000-14000 apiece, is expensive for Indians. I have a theory that the sales of small gadgets take off when the gadget’s price equals one month’s per capita income. E readers have to come down to that level i.e. around Rs 4000-5000. Once that happens, the markets for e-readers will explode. Once e-readers explode, then publishers will be facing severe challenges as authors will be able to reach out to consumers directly at a cheap cost. How they adapt to that change will be an interesting journey!
And, what about Book Retailers?
When you walk into a bookstore today there may be a specific book you don’t find, so you end up buying something else instead. But in the age of the e-reader, every book will be available easily off the web, and in every possible language!! However, that e-topia is still many years away and for now publishers and physical bookstores still have a lot going for them. But they must prepare for the future.
How religious are you?
I was a typical corporate person, headstrong, competitive and aggressive. All I was bothered about was the next promotion, the next increment, comparing myself to my batch-mates. Frankly, I didn’t appreciate how kind fate had been to me. However, I found that as I became more religious, I started understanding what a beautiful family I had, and started valuing my life every day. Even at my office, I became calmer, less stressed, less aggressive. Funnily enough, this coincided with the most successful tenures of my corporate life! Faith in Him did not change my world. It actually performed an even bigger miracle. It changed me.
There is a God within every single one of us. When you reach your inner self you reach god. Unfortunately, we surround our inner selves with a lot of nonsense. The answers that you are looking for are all within you. I’ve tried to convey this philosophy through the speech of Har Har Mahadev in The Immortals of Meluha. Har Har Mahadev, All of us are Mahadevs.
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