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 

Jeffrey Archer of India

Amish Tripathi, bestselling author of The Immortals of Meluha, the first installment of the Shiva Trilogy, launched his second offering, The Secret of the Nagas, at Starmark, South City Mall, in association with Westland, recently in town. Actor and producer, Arindam Sil, was there to launch the book, while Rimi B Chatterjee, writer and academic, steered a discussion over the author, his inspiration and his works.

“I am deeply passionate about history, had it been a lucrative career, I would have taken it up. Coming from a quintessentially argumentative Indian family and growing up in a liberal atmosphere, procurement of knowledge was always a part of life. But I was a sports guy and then a hyperactive banker, writing came to me as divine inspiration,” said Tripathi. He added, “I approached the story with the humility of a witness rather than the arrogance of a writer. It was all due the blessings of Lord Shiva.”

The book launch was preceded by an innovative trailer of the book, which Gautam Jatia, CEO of Starmark, termed as ‘a novel way to launch a book’. During the better part of the evening, the author indulged in a question and answer session with the select gathering of enthusiastic readers. “Amish is involved at every stage of the book, from the writing process to the marketing procedure,” commented, Biswa Bandhu Mukherjee, representative of Westland.

Termed as the ‘Jeffrey Archer of India’, by Arindam Sil, an avowed fan of the books, Tripathi engaged the audience in an informative and enjoyable session. He talked about the genesis of his philosophy, the ‘divine inspiration’ behind his creations, his writing process and much more from history to mythology to contemporary issues of India.

Full report here Education Times

Intriguing pages

Avid readers quizzed Amish Tripathi on his writing and philosphy during the launch of The Secret of Nagas

The launch event of Amish Tripathi's second book, The Secret of the Nagas at Landmark recently was absolutely packed with fans of his Shiva Trilogy.

It wasn't just that every seat was taken, or that shoppers paused to listen to the author speak; it was how knowledgeable the audience members were about the books, and how vociferous they were in their praise of the series.

The book, which is a sequel to Amish's hit debut novel the Immortals of Meluha (2010), has already climbed to the top of Indian bestseller lists, and the two books between them have had a print run of three lakh. The trilogy is the author's take on Indian mythology, based on a simple premise — what if Lord Shiva had once been one of us, a tribal living 4000 years ago? — and it's clear that it has struck a chord with Indian readers.

“Thanks for creating a Shiva I can identify with,” said one fan. Another thanked the author for openly opposing the Aryan invasion theory: “I'm so happy to find someone in the mainstream willing to proclaim the fact.” (Amish called it a “nonsense theory” during the event.)

Full report here Hindu

Review: The Secret Of The Nagas

review

The Secret Of The Nagas
Amish Tripathi
Westland
396 pages
Rs 295
ISBN 9789380658797
Paperback

About the book
Today, He is a God.
4000 years ago, He was just a man.

The hunt is on. The sinister Naga warrior has killed his friend Brahaspati and now stalks his wife Sati. Shiva, the Tibetan immigrant who is the prophesied destroyer of evil, will not rest till he finds his demonic adversary. His vengeance and the path to evil will lead him to the door
of the Nagas, the serpent people. Of that he is certain.  The evidence of the malevolent rise of evil is everywhere. A kingdom is dying as it is held to ransom for a miracle drug. A crown prince is murdered. The Vasudevs – Shiva’s philosopher guides – betray his unquestioning faith as they take the aid of the dark side. Even the perfect empire, Meluha is riddled with a
terrible secret in Maika, the city of births. Unknown to Shiva, a master puppeteer is playing a grand game. In a journey that will take him across the length and breadth of ancient India, Shiva searches for the truth in
a land of deadly mysteries – only to find that nothing is what it seems.
Fierce battles will be fought. Surprising alliances will be forged. Unbelievable secrets will be revealed in this second book of the Shiva Trilogy, the sequel to the #1 national bestseller, The Immortals of Meluha.


Reviews:
Full review here DNA

Amish Tripathi’s Immortals Of Meluha evoked two distinct reactions from this reviewer: lots of eye-rolling at the amateur writing, but also an irrepressible urge to keep turning the pages.

So when the second book in the Shiva Trilogy, The Secret Of The Nagas, arrived in all its glossy, muscle-rippling, fang-baring glory, much the same was expected. And Amish, as he likes to be called, delivers spectacularly — on both counts.

We’re thrust into the narrative, mid-action, exactly from where the first book ended. And the breathless pace of the action hardly ever lets up. Shiva, the Tibetan warrior, and his wife Sati chase the mysteriously-hooded Nagas all across ancient India to find their secret.

There are more twists and turns than in a Gordian knot, and at least two revelations of the ‘Luke-I-am-your-father’ variety.

The Secret Of The Nagas is impressive in its conception. But it is executed poorly. And it really rankles, because there is so much scope for flair, adventure and wonder in the world Tripathi has imagined.

Take this description of a sun rise on the Ganga: “The sun had just risen over the Ganga, tinting it a stunning orange.” It evokes a particularly unimaginative scribble by a six-year-old at best. When Shiva enters the impenetrable city of Branga, this is how Tripathi describes the buildings and temples. “…their buildings were superbly built and maintained, while their temples were lofty and grand.”

-=-=-

Tete-a-tete with Amish Tripathi

Now, Lord Shiva has been the muse for several authors. So, as I was gifted the 'Immortals of Meluha' a few months ago, I turned to read the authors profile. Amish Tripathi, an IIM alumnus and a banker, hmmm, the cynic in me rolled eyes, "now where have I heard that before?!"

Little did I know that not only would I end up reading it in one go, but would also pick up the second offering in the trilogy, 'The Secret of the Nagas' on the first day of its release! The icing on the cake? Well, I got to meet the storyteller, Amish Tripathi at a book reading session in Hyderabad and must say he did better than just wiping away my cynicism over Bankers-turning-Authors. Here are some excerpts:

Mythology and religion have been issues that are perceived to be sensitive. You chose to weave your debut novel around these topics… did u apprehend any brickbats, controversies?
You know a lot of people told me not to write on Shiva or god or religion. But I think there is no better place than India to actually write on these. We have always been open to interpretations. Ramayana has a 1000 versions, with some even suggesting that Sita was the one who actually killed Raavan!

Your characters, be it Shiva or Sati or even the warrior Parvateshwar have this very real-life character to them. Was it a conscious effort to not place any of them on a pedestal?
All my characters reflect people I have met in my life. Like the warrior Parvateshwar is actually based on my brother-in-law, who is a cop and I respect him immensely…

Full interview here IBNLive

The flaw in the crystal

In today’s literature of the Subcontinent, there is no escaping mythology – nor should there be.

Hindu mythologies and epic characters have become cultural metaphors in India. Many speak with ease of a lakshman rekha that constrains the behaviour of a woman, call scheming older men shakunis, identify sati savitris in women we see around us. No wonder then, that mythological themes, characters and events are found widely recurring in the country’s popular cultures and literatures. To speak of Hindu mythologies permeating contemporary literature in India, therefore, is to state a truism – but a compelling truism, nonetheless. In one sense, there is nothing more traditional than repeating the stories from the past: throughout the region we have been doing so for centuries, each retelling becoming another layer in the vibrant, living palimpsest of the myths and epics. So it is unsurprising when we find contemporary writers doing what writers from the Subcontinent have been doing for what seems like forever – using themes, characters, events and emotions from a literary past to add nuance to their work.

For these reasons (and perhaps others as well), there is almost never a single version of any Hindu myth. We commonly know Hanuman to be the son of Vayu, but the Siva Purana tells us that this extraordinary monkey was the son of Siva (via a complex impregnation process that involved shed semen and hawks and leaves and open-mouthed women). By telling ancient stories in our own way, we are asserting a claim to these stories, making them our own, just as the story of Hanuman’s birth passed through many hands and minds and mouths and became a Saivite myth. Similarly, we, any and all of us, are invited by the Hindu tradition itself to tell stories again and again. By doing so, our contemporary tellings and variations and interpretations enthusiastically add to the inherent diversity and dynamism of our reservoir of tales.

Full report here Himal

Man of myths

The Secret of the Nagas, the second book in the Meluha trilogy, is out. Writer Amish Tripathi tells Harshini Vakkalanka the books have made him a believer

What was supposed to be a banker's first piece of fiction on the philosophy of evil, was shaped into something quite different and much more magnanimous.

“I was told by friends and family that something like an adventure novel incorporating my philosophy of evil would be much better. And I thought, who better to represent the philosophy of evil than the destroyer of evil himself,” says Amish Tripathi, author of the best-selling Shiva Trilogy.

He was in the city to launch The Secret of the Nagas, the second book in the trilogy. The first book, his debut novel, The Immortals of Meluha has sold more than 125,000 copies since its release in February 2010 and dominated most of the best-seller lists last year. “I'm a voracious reader and I love reading about history. Over the past 25 years, I have been reading about almost every aspect of Indian history from archaeology to research. Also my family is an argumentative liberal Indian one. We were always discussing Indian mythology. I grew up listening to tales of yore. These things were always there at the back of my mind, so when He willed it, I guess they came out,” explains Amish.

Full report here Hindu

Greek mythology inspires teen’s debut novel

Inspired by stories from Greek mythology, a Delhi schoolboy spins a magical tale of fantasy envisaging the defeat of evil by a teen wizard who the author hopes would go on to be popular in the country.

Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit released Damien Black: The Battle of Lost Ages a fantasy novel by 14-year-old Kevin Solomon Missal in the national capital recently.

“The book is about Damien Black a teenager who belongs to a hunter clan,” says the author Missal, who is studying  in class X. Started as a summer vacation project, the book, says Missal was completed within of two months.

“It is fascinating to see that the book has been inspired by Greek mythology characters. Such good work by young authors must carry on,” Dikshit said after releasing the book.

The Chief Minister said parents should encourage their children to write books and explore avenues that interest them.

Full report here Hindustan Times

The gods are back

Modernizing mythology, a risky business? Do writers need an excel sheet of plans? Writer Amish Tripathi has the answers

His immortals have crossed the boundaries of Meluha and have taken the country by storm. When CT caught up with writer Amish Tripathi, who was in town for a day, he confessed that he had never done anything creative in his life, before his first novel.

"I had not even written a short story before in my life. In school, I was involved in sports and, during my IIM stint, I was the lead singer of the band Baror C (12C). I was an atheist, and at times, had even refused to enter a temple," Amish says. So, how did The Immortals of Meluha happen? "I was watching TV at home one day when I came to know that in ancient Persia, the gods were called Ahuras and the demons called Daivas.

Full report here Times of India 

Art of myth-ematics

Jaya; Devdutt Pattanaik
Penguin; Rs 499; pp. 349

Devdutt Pattanaik’s Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata has the words and image text feel of a Lonely Planet guide. It navigates the reader through an inexhaustible epic where, as the blurb says,
A son renounces sex so that his old father can remarry A daughter is a prize in an archery context A teacher demands half a kingdom as his tuition fee A student is turned away because of his caste A mother asks her sons to share a wife The complex stories of the Mahabharata and their bewildering cast of characters have been made accessible through the delightful format of the book. It has a 108 chapters with over 250 line drawings, executed in a sharp and informed patta-chitra inspired style by Devdutt himself. Boxes and brief notes provide context, information and insight, and guide the reader through the labyrinthine narrative and its social and cultural cues. As his source material, Pattanaik has employed the classical Sanskrit text interpolated with variations from folk and regional texts such as the Pandavani and Yakshagana. Pattanaik’s unconventional attitude to mythology treats it as a living, contemporary arena of ideology, motivation and popular attitude.

There is an urgency and immediacy in the way Pattanaik lays out these stories. He evades the temptation to render them in high-sounding pseudo-Sanskrit style. The intriguing boxed texts carry the most unexpected nuggets of information. For example, the Rules of War, and the Rule Breakers, take the reader through the battle ethics and transgressions of the Mahabharata in just half a page. Similarly, the warriors and their insignia, and other such details, with references to concurrent versions, are laid out to provide breaks in the narration whereby the reader can reflect on and absorb the text. However, there are instances when the research and validation of this ‘information’ is haphazard and not academically accurate.

full review here Deccan Chronicle 

Heaven is available till stocks last

Devdutt Pattanaik is fighting passionately to bring the clarity of Indian mythology to corporate decision-making, says Gaurav Jain

I believe I exist for a reason. I believe I have to write these things — which is my own private delusion, of course,” smiles Devdutt Pattanaik. In the ever-eccentric intellectual landscape, he cuts a mild but momentous figure. He’s a self-taught scholar of Indian mythology who reads only English, and has no intention of learning other languages. He’s a prolific writer and also an increasingly talked-about corporate coach with the enviable title of Chief Belief Officer at Future Group, the corporation behind Big Bazaar and Pantaloons.

He’s also fast reaching critical mass. He’s exhausted most Indian gods as themes for primers and maintained a steady torrent of articles in popular media. He was a speaker to the Jaipur Literature Festival this year and to TEDIndia last year. Now he’s published perhaps his most ambitious book yet — Jaya, a retelling of the entire Mahabharata in 350 lucid pages, where he blends several folk and regional variants of the epic into one linear narrative, alongside his line drawings. Each of the 108 short chapters begins with a mildly contrarian epigraph and ends with an engaging tippani (comment).

Full report here Tehelka

Before He Was God: Ramayana—Reconsidered, Recreated

Varma’s intense engagement with his subject yields moving insights, while humorous and tragical interludes lend immediacy.

Before he was God: Ramayana -
Reconsidered, Recreated
Pavan K Varma; Rupa
Rs 995; Pp 344

Epics like the Ramayana gain in resonance with every recension. Retired bureaucrat Ram Varma has laboured long and hard to produce his Ramayana, conceived like a “Baramasa” tribute. It follows the course of a seasonal appreciation, from Chaitra and Vaishakha through the searing summer and the rains until Phalgun, where Rama sheds his human form in the Sarayu river. This is a feisty personal appreciation rendered in verse, though rhyme and meter tend to be uneven. Yet, Varma’s intense engagement with his subject yields moving insights, while humorous and tragical interludes lend immediacy.

Varma’s version here discredits and discards Sita’s  “agni-pariksha”. Instead, he has Sita sent into a second exile, then returning to her father Janak’s court for shelter, where she discovers her “real” mother Rohini. Her husband then recalls Sita from the forest to fulfil her ceremonial role in the Ashwamedha yagna. This compassionate resurrection exemplifies the very spirit of bhakti, where each devotee is free to image and fashion the object of his worship. The powerful illustrations add to the evocative quality of this book.

Full review here Outlook

Mythical icons become heroes in new Indian fiction

Rama, Ravana, Arjuna, Jesus Christ, Lord Shiva, Ganesha and the epics are becoming fodder for contemporary Indo-Anglian literature. Writers say it is a new way of looking at Indian culture and draw young readers.

The reprint of two popular titles - The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathy and The Rozabal Line by Ashwin Sanghi last month - brought the gods back from their heavenly abodes to play action games on earth. The books have been published by Westland Ltd.

Amish Tripathy re-tells a folkore from Jammu and Kashmir about the descent of Lord Shiva in his blue-neck Neelkantha avatar from Tibet with his warriors to Meluha, a modern-day Indus Valley city located in Srinagar, to save the city. Sanghi spins a murder mystery around the supposed grave of Jesus Christ at the Rozabal shrine in Kashmir.

Three new fiction tomes - The Ganesh Scripture by Alice Albina, The Golden Sacrifice of the Mahabharata by Maggi Lidchi Grassi and Kalika and Dimna: The Panchatantra Retold by Ramsay Wood - published by Random House this year use Ganesha, Vyasa, Arjuna and mythical demons to narrate gripping stories.

Full report here Economic Times

Connect the dots

Dancing with Kali; Lalita Das
Niyogi;

Dancing with Kali has its moments of brilliance, amidst many literary clichés. The author seems to have written the book, keeping in mind, non-Indian readers; where she goes that extra mile to familiarise us with the Hindu ethos and culture. It raises your intrigue, builds your suspense by the time a two-third of the book is over, and suddenly throws in a lot of revelations.

Any connect between Goddess Kali and any character in the book is cleverly kept under the wraps and Das beautifully connects the dots towards the end. The characters are well-turned out, but the repetitions dampen your interest. The streams-of-consciousness mode is not deftly dealt with, and it makes for a confusing read at various places.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Once upon a myth

Hema Vaidyanathan, in her re-telling of Indian mythology for kids who need to re-connect with their Indian milieu, wants to keep it short, funny, and free of violence

There's something about Indians who settle across the seas, and their love for mythology. It's not a general blanket statement, stereotyping all Indians that way, but look around among your own immediate family and friends and tell me if our kids here are not more hooked on to Bob the Builder rather than the story of Karna. Hema Vaidyanathan, children's author who lives in Switzerland and produces beautiful books on Indian mythology, admits it may be true. But she argues it's more a young urban parent phenomenon.

The author, whose second book “Tail Tales” was released recently in the city, furthers the idea: “It's true that when parents leave India, their sense of anchor is gone. It strikes you that there's a lot of Christmas and representations of other faiths around. But the sound of the Indian milieu is not there. And one wants to introduce kids to what we connected with. But I see that even parents in India want their kids to be re-connected and re-introduced to what they grew up with, not just NRIs.”

With two “cross-cultural children” of her own, who were born and brought up outside India, Hema saw herself dealing with a whole lot of issues.

Full report here Hindu

Emperaza of cool

Roopa Pai has a way with children. She can get them to read about Indian mythology believing it's cool, writes Bhumika K
.

She should be credited with being able to achieve a whole lot of things, but mostly, three very difficult things — getting children to read Indian fantasy books, getting people to walk in Bangalore, getting children to listen to history! Knotty tasks, huh? She has conjured up an exotic world for a whole lot of youngsters (and adults) — a world of Taranauts ruled by Emperaza Shoon Ya (aided by the able Miss Shuk Tee), inhabited by brave young Mithyakins, over whom lurks the evil Shaap Azur.

Co-founder of Bangalore Walks, a tour guide, and a writer, Roopa Pai is herself like a child. And maybe that's why her first in a series of eight books “Taranauts: Quest for The Shyn Emeralds” is a delightfully-told story. “I'm trying to make Indianism cool without being in-the-face Indian. And that's been difficult for Indian writers,” says Roopa. Most Indian children stay away from traditional and mythological storybooks for two reasons. The folklore is often forced down their throats by eager parents — a sort of “you must know your culture” thing. And very often, they lose out when competing with dazzlingly produced foreign books.

Full report here Hindu