Atheist to a Shiva bhakt

By day a control freak boss and by night a writer, he has faced many rejections by publishers in the last few years. Today, he is the best-selling author of The Shiva Trilogy.

I call him up at 9 pm, quite late by industry standards for calling up people for interviews. He picks up at the first ring sounding pretty excited. “I hope this is only for transcript not a podcast because I have just downed a glass of wine, we’re celebrating the success of The Secret Of The Nagas, it has only been a week and the book has gone into reprint.”

He warms up to the theme. “You know, I faced a lot of rejections from publishers who wanted me to change a bit of the story, asked me to drop philosophy as it seemed like a gyan session but I was adamant.”

The story reads like an adventure of the characters with an underlying philosophy. So did he find himself compelled to give his book a Dan Brown treatment?

“When I wrote the book, it read like a philosophy thesis, my friends and family suggested that I write it in the form of an adventure story as people will then at least give it a chance. This has been done a million times before, Ved Vyasa wrote Mahabharata to convey the philosophy of Vedas as they can become intense for most people. I didn’t do anything wrong. 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.”

Full report here Hindustan Times