Amish Tripathi talks about life at IIM-C

MBAUniverse.com brings to you exclusive interview with IIM Calcutta alumnus, leading finance and marketing professional and author Mr. Amish Tripathi. Mr. Tripathi’s debut book The Immortals of Meluha  has recently been published and is rocking the bestselling charts across leading bookstores in India. In this interview Mr. Tripathi talks about his life at IIM Calcutta, key issues confronting Indian management education sector and what MBA aspirants should focus on to achieve success in life. Excerpts from the interview:

First of all, please tell us what inspired you to write a book on Lord Shiva?
Actually, I started the book as a philosophy book. The key philosophy in it was the nature of evil. But I got some good advice from my brother and sis-in-law that a pure philosophy book would have a narrower audience. The suggestion was that I should write a thriller/adventure and let the philosophy come across with the story. This would have a mainstream appeal. Now if I have to write an adventure on the nature of evil, who better to be the hero than the destroyer of evil himself, Lord Shiva.

Tell us about your life as a MBA student, as a marketing head of a big insurance company, and now as a writer? What all have been the learning at each of the aforementioned stages of your life till now?
Well, the MBA stage and my early career was quite different from what it is now. I guess we are trained to be competitive - maybe even slightly insecure. That is good for the career no doubt. But it is not good for our personal happiness. Writing the book has been transformational for me in that sense. I have become more balanced. I still work hard - but I am not obsessed with my position & status in the corporate world. I used to be a non-believer, but I have become a shiv bhakt now. I am much more appreciative of how kind fate has been to me, what a wonderful family I have. The book has been a blessing.

Full report here MBAUniverse

Amish Tripathi's going digital

If you think that number crunching may be this IIM Kolkata graduate’s favourite pastime, you will be mistaken. While Amish Tripathi, the author of The Immortals of Meluha wanted to be a historian, the dream of a plump salary cheque paved his way to the reputed business school. But the 35-year-old confesses, "I would be a historian if I had the money. I was interested in writing on philosophy but my family told me it didn't pay. So, it was finance that I followed."

A first-time author, Amish was in no doubt that it would be difficult for him to bag a top-notch publication house. Instead, he decided to rely on his management and marketing skills to make sure that the market was ready to receive his book. He says, "I would be lying if I said that I was sure I would get a big publisher for my first novel. I was a finance guy and a staunch believer in digital marketing that has a better reach in the books market. It actually puts up a conversation rather than a two-minute wire on the same."

Full report here DNA