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